The Korea Exchange (KRX) is tightening delisting eligibility reviews to restore trust in KOSDAQ. The focus is on speeding up substantive reviews and introducing a measure that allows early removal even before the end of an improvement period.
Unlike formal requirements that lead to immediate removal when grounds such as a final default, a market capitalization below 4 billion won, or a full capital impairment arise, the KOSDAQ substantive delisting review is a system that determines listing eligibility by comprehensively assessing a corporation's sustainability and management soundness, including factors such as a non-unqualified audit opinion or occurrences of embezzlement and breach of trust.
On the 19th, the Korea Exchange (KRX) announced a "2026 plan to expedite the removal of insolvent corporations," which includes measures to ▲ expand the substantive review organization ▲ strengthen oversight of corporations under substantive review ▲ improve substantive review procedures to accelerate the exit of underperforming KOSDAQ corporations.
First, the exchange will establish an "integrated and batch review" framework by expanding the substantive review organization. On Feb. 9, the exchange created a planning review team within the delisting department to bolster expertise. In addition, when controlling shareholders are the same across multiple corporations, the exchange plans to speed up review work through integrated reviews.
The exchange will also tighten the grounds for substantive review and shorten improvement periods. The current full capital impairment requirement is narrowed from a full-year basis to a semiannual basis, and the cumulative penalty points threshold for inaccurate disclosures is lowered from 15 points in one year to 10 points. The maximum improvement period will be reduced from 1.5 years to one year.
In particular, for corporations in an improvement period, procedures will be strengthened to allow early removal even before the existing improvement period ends if they fail to carry out their improvement plans or are deemed to have lost operating continuity or the ability to remain a going concern.
Meanwhile, the exchange will designate the period from Feb. 2026 to Jun. 2027 as an intensive management period and plans to establish and operate a "delisting intensive management task force" to directly oversee the delisting process.