The government has declared an end to stock price manipulation and has formed the 'joint response team for eradicating stock price manipulation', which will operate in an interim system before its launch. Ham Yong-il, Deputy Director General of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), who led the joint response team, has retired after his term expired, and no successor has been chosen yet. Therefore, the joint response team will be temporarily operated under Lee Seung-woo, Deputy Director of Public Disclosure Investigation at the FSS.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) on the 24th, Ham retired that day after completing a three-year term. The retirement ceremony was held at 10 a.m. at the FSS headquarters. Since his successor has not yet been decided, the positions of Deputy Director General of the FSS and Director General of the joint response team will each be operated in an interim system.
Ham noted in a call with ChosunBiz, "The Deputy Director General Lee Seung-woo will take over as the Director General of the joint response team after retirement," adding, "However, it hasn't been decided yet how to assign the interim duties within the FSS."
The joint response team to eradicate stock price manipulation was organized collaboratively by three agencies: the Financial Services Commission, the Financial Supervisory Service, and the Korea Exchange, to fulfill President Lee Jae-myung's economic promise to 'eradicate financial criminals.' The aim is for the three institutions that investigate and sanction unfair trading practices, including stock price manipulation, to communicate organically in one space and promptly respond to stock manipulation activities.
Lee Yoon-soo, a standing commissioner of the Securities and Futures Commission, stated at a briefing held at the Korea Exchange on the 9th that "we will strive to reduce the psychological and investigative process that previously took an average of 15 months to two years down to 6 to 7 months through the joint response team."
The leader of the joint response team will be the Deputy Director General of the FSS, with operational councils and investigative teams dispatched from three organizations underneath it. It is scheduled to be launched on the 30th.
Although the government has ambitiously announced the launch of the joint response team, delays in appointments have led it to start in an interim operational state. Concerns have arisen about the vacuum in leadership needed to unite the three agencies forming the joint response team.
However, financial authorities believe that since the three agencies have discussed the launch of the joint response team for a long time, there should not be major issues arising from starting in an interim state.
Notably, the Deputy Director General who will take on the interim duties is someone who has extensive experience in inspection and investigation within the FSS. This Deputy Director General has served as the Deputy Director of the Special Investigation Division, Director of the Capital Market Investigation Division, and Director of Investigation Division 1 at the FSS.
A source from the financial authorities stated, "During the preparation process for the launch of the joint response team, there has already been in-depth exchange of opinions among participating agencies, so there should be no issue with the change of the Director General," adding, "Given that the Deputy Director General taking on the interim role has broad practical experience, it will likely be helpful in the initial operations."