Ryu Young-jun in the controversy over eating and drinking… Prohibited from selling stocks for two years after Kakao was listed

Ryu Young-Jun Kakao Pay(147,000 -4.85%) Kakao responded to the controversy surrounding the ‘eat-and-run’ when executives, including the CEO, sold tens of billions of won worth of stock last month.(96,700 -0.51%)has come up with measures to prevent recurrence.

The Kakao Community Alignment Center (CAC, Director Yeo Min-soo) announced on the 13th that it will prepare rules for the sale of stocks for executives across all affiliates and implement them immediately.

According to the regulations, executives of Kakao affiliates cannot sell stocks for one year after listing. Selling restrictions apply to stocks received through stock option exercise without exception. The time of application is from the date of filing of the securities declaration to one year after listing.

In the case of the CEO, the sell-off period is increased to two years, which is more stringent. The sale of joint stock by executives is also prohibited.

In addition, a pre-risk inspection process was established for the sale of stocks by executives of listed companies. When an executive sells stock in the future, the amount and period of the sale one month in advance must be shared with the community alignment center and the IR team of the affiliated company. The same rules apply to the case of retiring from an executive of an existing company by moving an affiliate.

The CAC, which prepared this regulation, is responsible for coordinating and supporting the strategic direction of all Kakao affiliates from the perspective of sustainable growth. We plan to consider Kakao’s social role and apply various measures to strengthen the ethical awareness of management and executives and employees and prevent risks.

In consideration of the social atmosphere, Kakao also plans to review the listing of affiliates such as Kakao Entertainment and Kakao Mobility.

Minsoo Yeo, CEO of Kakao [사진=카카오 제공]

Earlier, Kakao Pay executives, including CEO Ryu, sold a large amount of stock last month, causing a controversy over the quality. Kakao Pay entered the stock market in November last year, but eight Kakao Pay executives, including CEO Ryu, sold a total of 440,000 shares last month, a month after listing, and faced criticism as a “moral hazard” (moral hazard).

According to the Electronic Disclosure System of the Financial Supervisory Service, CEO Ryu sold 230,000 shares of Kakao Pay through after-hours trading on the 8th of last month. The sale price per share is 204,017 won, for a total sale price of 46.9 billion won. It is the amount of stock options that CEO Ryu exercised. At the time, CEO Ryu exercised stock options at 5,000 won per share, and the profit from the sale reached 45.7 billion won.

In addition to CEO Ryu, Seung-Hyo Lee, new CEO of Kakao Pay Securities (5,000 shares), Vice President Lee Jin (75,193 shares), Ho-Yeol Na, Vice President of Technology (35,800 shares), Shin Won-Geun, Chief Executive Officer of Corporate Strategy (30,000 shares), Ji-Hong Lee Brand Executive Vice President (30,000 shares), Executive Vice President Jang Ki-joo (30,000 shares), and Head of Management Support Office Jeon Hyun-seong (5,000 shares) also sold their shares.

By Kang Kyung-joo, reporter at Hankyung.com qurasoha@hankyung.com