The Fair Trade Commission announced on the 9th that it had imposed a correction order and a fine of 12 million won on a sample for violating the principle of separation of finance and industry, which prohibits general holding companies from owning stocks of domestic companies engaged in the financial and insurance business.
According to an investigation by the Fair Trade Commission, Sempyo held 500 million shares of Partner One Value Up No. 2 private equity joint venture specializing in start-up ventures in the financial industry for about four months from December 24, 2020 to April 27, 2021. Violation of restrictions on conduct.
As of December 31, 2020, the general holding company Polar Energy & Marine was caught by the Fair Trade Commission for violating regulations by holding more than twice the total amount of equity on the balance sheet (debt ratio 635%).
The Fair Trade Commission issued a corrective order to resolve debts exceeding twice the total capital by December 31 of this year. However, no penalty was imposed in consideration of the fact that an increase in the debt-to-equity ratio was unavoidable, that it had nothing to do with expansion of control through excessive borrowing, and that it did not obtain undue profits.
The Fair Trade Commission said, “The cases discovered this time undermine the purpose of the holding company system under the Fair Trade Act for a simple, transparent and sound ownership and governance structure.” said.
Correspondent Dahyun Choi da2109@etnews.com
