The financial authorities conducted a search of the office related to an SBS employee who allegedly took unfair profits using undisclosed information.
According to the financial authorities on the 15th, the Capital Markets Investigation Division of the Financial Services Commission conducted a search of the office in connection with allegations that an SBS employee profited from transactions made with undisclosed information obtained during work.
This employee is reported to have acquired information in advance that SBS would collaborate with Netflix last year and purchased a large amount of SBS shares. After SBS announced its content supply contract with Netflix on Dec. 20 of last year, it recorded the upper limit for two consecutive transaction days. The employee is said to have made hundreds of millions of won in unfair profits by subsequently selling the shares.
SBS stated, "This morning, we received a notification from the Financial Services Commission that an employee is under investigation for violating the Capital Markets Act, and upon confirmation, it was found that the employee had profited from utilizing 'undisclosed information.'"
It added, "Based on the confirmed facts, we immediately dismissed the employee and will actively cooperate with the investigation by the Financial Services Commission."
The Financial Services Commission is also investigating whether other SBS employees have engaged in transactions using undisclosed information.