In response to controversy over lax internal controls that arose regarding the process of arranging a 150 billion won loan for the Oner of Mugunghwa Trust, SK Securities refuted the claims, saying, "SK Securities' business operations are completely independent of the controlling shareholder's decision-making structure."
Jeon Woo-jong and Chung Joon-ho, CEOs of SK Securities, said in a news release on the 28th, "We do not know the decision-making structure of our controlling shareholder, private equity fund (PEF) J&W Partners, or the interests among its limited partners (LPs), and the controlling shareholder also does not involve itself in our business operations."
The two CEOs said, "We take very seriously the situation in which the report causes direct and indirect harm to customers, shareholders and employees, and we are reviewing response measures from multiple angles," adding, "SK Securities will continue transparent management independent of the controlling shareholder."
The statement is seen as a response to the spread of suspicions of a so-called "barter transaction (barter·conditional exchange)" involving Mugunghwa Trust, J&W Partners and SK Securities. Some media recently took issue with Mugunghwa Trust borrowing 115 billion won from SK Securities using its own unlisted shares as collateral, and then participating as an LP in J&W Partners, which controls SK Securities, by investing 10 billion won.