A display reveals, from left, the KOSPI, the won-dollar change price and the Kosdaq on the dealing room of KEB Hana Financial institution’s headquarters in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
Executives, staff concerned in monetary crimes costing almost $3.7 bil.
By Jun Ji-hye
The extent of embezzlement and breaches of belief by executives and staff of corporations listed on the KOSPI and Kosdaq markets has totaled almost 5 trillion gained ($3.7 billion) over the previous six years. The typical buying and selling suspension interval for these corporations is now approaching the 500-day mark.
Based on knowledge from Korea Change, launched by Rep. Kim Hyun-jung of the principle opposition Democratic Celebration of Korea on Thursday, a complete of 4.62 trillion gained in embezzlements and breach of belief occurred within the benchmark KOSPI market and the secondary bourse Kosdaq from 2019 to August this yr.
Amongst these, KOSPI-listed corporations disclosed a complete of 53 circumstances, amounting to 1.86 trillion gained. The circumstances have been extra frequent within the Kosdaq, as 111 circumstances amounting to 2.76 trillion gained have been disclosed throughout the identical interval.
this yr alone, six circumstances totaling 50.7 billion gained have been disclosed within the KOSPI market, together with 20.1 billion gained from Namyang Dairy Merchandise, certainly one of Korea’s largest dairy corporations.
Within the Kosdaq market, 12 circumstances totaling 103.6 billion gained have been disclosed, together with the 41.7 billion gained from Terra Science, a know-how firm centered on core elements supplies.
The issue is that listed corporations with circumstances of embezzlement and breach of belief could face buying and selling suspensions and the opportunity of being delisted, which may trigger inventory worth crashes and investor losses.
To date, 19 KOSPI-listed corporations and 103 Kosdaq-listed companies have had their buying and selling suspended because of such circumstances. Among the many Kosdaq-listed ones, 37 have been finally delisted.
The typical buying and selling suspension interval was 498.1 days for KOSPI-listed corporations and 470.4 days for Kosdaq-listed ones.
Critics stated circumstances of embezzlement and breach of belief that undermine belief within the nation’s capital markets are repeated because the advisable sentencing for such crimes is excessively lenient.
“To revive confidence within the capital markets and defend traders, a stronger inner monitoring system is required,” Kim stated. “The accountability of exterior auditors should even be strengthened.”
