The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has concluded its on-site inspection into the "zero SpaceX share allocation" case in about a month. With the FSS emphasizing "investor protection" during the inspection, observers suggest sanctions related to internal controls could follow.
According to the financial investment industry on the 16th, the FSS was found to have wrapped up its inspection related to the SpaceX case that day. The FSS began an on-site review of Mirae Asset Securities (006800.KS) on the 5th of last month before converting it into a formal inspection on the 9th. The inspection had originally been scheduled to run through the 14th of this month, but was extended by two more days.
The industry expects that how well the company protected investors will be an important factor in determining the level of sanctions. This is because concerns were raised that Mirae Asset Securities executives began promotion early, at a stage when the public offering allocation had not been finalized, which amounts to "indirect marketing" and may have caused market confusion by providing uncertain information to numerous investors. Accordingly, the FSS had verbally warned the company to refrain from excessive marketing before the inspection. In addition, the FSS is known to have examined the registration process for individual and corporate professional investors who were subject to the SpaceX public offering subscription, as well as the background behind the failure to secure a SpaceX allocation.
The FSS is expected to determine the level of sanctions after preparing an inspection report and sending an inspection opinion to Mirae Asset Securities, among other steps. However, the industry is divided over the potential level of sanctions. To judge whether investor protection was properly carried out, actual harm must be assessed. But since Mirae Asset Securities was not allocated a single SpaceX share, resulting in no "actual harm," some analysts argue the level of sanctions will not be high.
On the other hand, there are cautious forecasts that the FSS will apply strict standards regarding internal controls. This is because executives' remarks through some media outlets that the company would "give as many investors as possible the opportunity" could have fueled confusion, even though the offering volume could change during the final allocation process.
