The Joint Response Team for Eradicating Stock Manipulation, launched last July, has uncovered more than 10 unfair trading cases over the past year and referred them to prosecutors through complaints and notifications.
Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Lee Eok-won held a "First-Year Performance Review Meeting of the Joint Response Team for Eradicating Stock Manipulation" at the Korea Exchange in Yeouido, Seoul, on Tuesday, saying, "The Joint Response Team has played a role in swiftly detecting illegal activities and imposing strict sanctions at the front line of securing trust in the capital market."
"The FSC, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), and the Korea Exchange work in one space and divide roles immediately upon detecting suspicions, establishing a swift and organic response system," Lee stressed. "As a result, case processing periods have been shortened, and joint investigations by the FSC and the FSS have gained momentum."
Launched on July 30 last year with 36 personnel (one team) from the FSC, the FSS, and the Korea Exchange, the Joint Response Team has now expanded to 90 personnel (two teams). The team has detected and investigated more than 10 cases—including long-term price manipulation by a "super-rich" individual, insider trading by a senior securities firm executive, and front-running by a reporter—and referred them to prosecutors through complaints and notifications. It is currently investigating numerous cases, including price manipulation and front-running, and is responding strictly by securing evidence through search and seizure in major cases.
The government plans to establish a more efficient investigation system by strengthening investigation and sanction powers and enhancing the substance of unfair trading investigation operations. It will also pursue stronger linkage and integration among the Joint Response Team's information technology (IT) systems, updating of forensic equipment, and reinforcement of the Korea Exchange's market information and tip analysis functions.
"We will grant investigating officials the authority to request telecommunications records to prevent the destruction of evidence and track crimes to the end," Lee said. "We will also expand the confiscation of principal, currently applied only to price manipulation, to include the use of undisclosed material information and fraudulent illicit trading, and we will extend the period of account payment suspension to block the concealment of illegal funds."
