Korea Exchange (KRX) said about 16% of corporations delisted over the past five years were expelled from the market due to issues related to settlement of account work, urging corporations to take special care with their settlement of account tasks.
Korea Exchange (KRX) on the 9th released the "Guidelines on matters to note for market participants regarding the settlement of account for the 2025 business year" and said a total of 254 corporations were delisted from the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets over the five years from 2021 to 2025.
Among them, 40 corporations, including 37 with non-unqualified audit opinions and 3 that failed to submit business reports, were delisted for settlement of account-related reasons, accounting for 15.7%.
Seventeen corporations whose delistings were deferred due to non-unqualified audit opinions for the 2024 business year will have their delisting status determined based on the audit opinions for the 2025 business year. The share of listed companies delisted for settlement of account-related reasons last year was 9.6%, a slight increase from the previous year's 7.3%.
Korea Exchange (KRX) emphasized that, for listed companies, audit reports contain information important to investment decisions and may involve market actions, so they must be disclosed immediately upon receipt. It noted that special care is required regarding the holding of general shareholders' meetings and the appointment of outside directors and auditors, and explained that shareholders must be provided with the audit and business reports up to one week before the general shareholders' meeting.
It also said that, for investors, important investment-related disclosures are concentrated around the settlement of account period and may be accompanied by significant market actions such as delisting, which can lead to unexpected investment losses, so special caution is required when investing in corporations with weak management stability or poor financial condition.
The status of audit report submissions by listed companies can be checked on the exchange's listing disclosure system.
A Korea Exchange (KRX) official said, "The exchange will establish a cooperative system with external auditors and others regarding the submission of audit reports to induce prompt disclosure and take timely market actions for corporations with non-unqualified audit opinions, making every effort to protect investors."