SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea’s financial regulator said on Thursday it imposed fines on five foreign firms in December for violation of naked short-selling rules in the local stock market.
Naked short-selling of stocks – in which an investor short sells shares without first borrowing them or determining they can be borrowed – is banned by the Capital Markets Act in South Korea.
Bellevue Asset Management AG, Credit Suisse International, Lingohr & Partners Asset Management GmbH and MEAG Hongkong Limited were each imposed a fine of 45 million won ($35,787) for illegal trading in 2021, while Invesco Capital Management LLC was fined 75 million won, according to the statement.
Responding to a Reuters request for comment, Credit Suisse said it “has cooperated with the regulator’s enquiries at all stages and we are comfortable that the matter has been closed in a manner that supports market integrity and fairness”.
The other four firms did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
It was the first time the Financial Services Commission has publicly named firms that have been fined for breaking market rules. The regulator announced in December that it would from now on name firms that are subject to a penalty, citing a need for more effective regulatory action against disruptive market behaviour.
South Korea is making various efforts this year, including regulatory reforms, to make its local stock market more accessible for foreigners, in a bid to attract more inflows to the market.
($1 = 1,257.4400 won)
(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Susan Fenton)
