S. Korea launches joint task force against stock manipulation

Seoul, July 30 (IANS) A joint task force of financial authorities and the stock market operator set sail on Wednesday in a follow-up step to quickly detect and root out stock manipulation.

The joint response team, comprising officials from the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and the Korea Exchange, is tasked with detecting and probing illegal and unfair stock trading activities.

So far, responsibilities for responding to unfair trading have been fragmented across several institutions, leading to delays in effective enforcement, reports Yonhap news agency.

President Lee Jae Myung earlier called for stern measures against stock manipulation and unfair trading practices as part of efforts to boost the local financial market.

Starting in October, those caught illegally trading stocks will face fines of up to twice the amount of their unjust gains, while the market monitoring system will be based on individuals rather than trading accounts.

The current account-based system results in excessive monitoring and makes it difficult to detect links between accounts held by the same individual.

Stock manipulators will be barred from the capital market for up to five years under a new "one-strike out system" that will limit their trading of financial investment products and disqualify them from serving as executives at listed companies.

Major shareholders and executives involved in illegal or unfair trading cases will be publicly named shortly after a resolution by the Securities and Futures Commission under the financial regulator.

South Korean stocks opened nearly unchanged on Wednesday after reaching a four-year high the previous session amid uncertainties over high-stakes tariff talks with the United States.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 1.88 points, or 0.06 percent, to 3,232.45 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

South Korea continued intensive negotiations with the U.S. to reach a deal on President Donald Trump's administration's sweeping tariff scheme before the Aug. 1 deadline.

—IANS

na/