Bang Si-hyuk, Chairman of HYBE. /Courtesy of News1

The financial authorities are reaching a conclusion on whether to report Bang Si-hyuk, chairman of HYBE, to the prosecution for fraudulent transaction charges under the Capital Markets Act.

According to the financial investment industry on the 16th, the Securities and Futures Commission, a subsidiary of the Financial Services Commission, will hold a regular meeting that day to decide on the level of sanctions against Chairman Bang.

Previously, the Capital Market Investigation Committee, which is a deliberative body of the Securities and Futures Commission, proposed to report Chairman Bang to the prosecution. As the Securities and Futures Commission generally accepts the opinions of the Capital Market Investigation Committee, it seems unlikely that the prosecution's reporting opinion will be overturned.

Chairman Bang entered into a contract to receive 30% of the profits from the sale of equity with a private equity fund established by an acquaintance in 2020, before HYBE went public. This private equity fund purchased HYBE shares from existing investors such as institutions and venture capital. It is said that the influence of Chairman Bang's side conveying to existing investors that the situation did not allow for listing was significant.

However, HYBE entered the KOSPI market in October 2020. After the listing, the private equity fund sold its HYBE shares for profit, and Chairman Bang is reported to have settled approximately 400 billion won.

The contract details between Chairman Bang and the private equity fund were all omitted during the listing review process of the Korea Exchange and the submission of the securities report to the Financial Supervisory Service. The financial authorities suspect that Chairman Bang mobilized the private equity fund to bypass the protection deposit that restricts the sale of equity for a certain period after the listing.

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