A joint response team to eradicate stock price manipulation, made up of the Financial Services Commission, the Financial Supervisory Service, and the Korea Exchange (KRX), carried out a search and seizure at Korea Investment & Securities Co. while investigating Hanmi Accounting Corporation on suspicion of using nonpublic information.
Korea Investment & Securities Co. is not a suspect but reportedly was questioned as a reference witness in its role as the manager of the related tender offer to confirm the sequence of events and the facts.
According to the securities industry on the 27th, the joint response team launched search and seizure operations the previous morning at Korea Investment & Securities Co. and Hanmi Accounting Corporation.
Accountants affiliated with Hanmi Accounting Corporation are suspected of pocketing illicit gains worth hundreds of millions of won per person by using nonpublic information on listed companies obtained in the course of their work. The information they used is said to have included details related to listed companies' tender offers and key management information before disclosure.
Korea Investment & Securities Co. was questioned as a reference witness in its capacity as the manager of the tender offer for the listed company targeted by stock price manipulation. A reference witness is not a suspect but a person who provides information necessary to verify the sequence of events and the facts.