SEOUL, Feb. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s Supreme Court has found that a 2009 penalty decision by the state antitrust watchdog against U.S. Qualcomm Inc. was not completely lawful, sending the case back to a lower court for reconsideration, court officials said Monday. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) fined the global chipmaker 273.2 billion [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) announced on Thursday that it had prepared guidelines for the effective delivery of disclaimers included in advertisements to prevent consumer misunderstanding. From now on, there will be fewer advertisements that mislead consumers by embedding important information in fine print. For example, when advertising an [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — The Fair Trade Commission will look into online influencers who advertise commercial products on their individual social media accounts without disclosing that they are being paid for the advertisement. The commission announced yesterday that it would carry out an intensive investigation into deceptive advertisements posted on Instagram, a social [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of unfair business practices nailed by the corporate watchdog surpassed 200 in nearly five years, with close to 10 billion won in fines being slapped on them, a parliamentary report showed Sunday. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) caught 206 illegal business contracts between large companies and smaller [...]
SEOUL, Apr. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Kim Sang-jo, the director of the Fair Trade Commission, in response to American activist fund Elliott Management Corp.’s call to restructure Hyundai Motor Group, stated that “following such demands would be going against antitrust laws.” Kim also said that Elliott’s demands were “unfair” during the Asia Future Enterprise Forum [...]
SEJONG, Dec. 28 (Korea Bizwire) – Loan guarantees among affiliates of South Korea’s large business groups sank in 2017 from a year earlier, the country’s corporate watchdog said Thursday. The total corporate debt payment guarantees made among units of 31 conglomerates reached 257 billion won (US$239 million) as of May 1, down 20 percent, or [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Korea Bizwire) – Home shopping TV channels charged the biggest commissions on sales this year compared with department stores, online malls and discount outlets, South Korea’s antitrust watchdog said Wednesday. Home shopping channels received an average 28.4 percent commission, the Fair Trade Commission said, citing its survey of 19 home shopping channels, department stores, online malls and large discount outlets. The comparable figures were 22 percent for department stores, [...]
SEJONG, Dec. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — A Samsung Group affiliate will be required to sell an additional stake in the de facto holding company of South Korea’s No. 1 conglomerate as a merger that took place in 2015 has effectively strengthened cross-shareholding ties within the business group, the country’s corporate watchdog said Thursday. In 2015, [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 15 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s corporate watchdog is looking into whether Mirae Asset Group, a major financial service provider, is violating regulations over inside transactions among its affiliates, industry sources said Friday. The current law forbids inter-affiliate trading within a business group where the controlling family holds more than 30 percent of [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 2 (Korea Bizwire) – The head of the Fair Trade Commission, Kim Sang-jo, announced plans to investigate the management of private foundations owned by major companies, as part of efforts to reform conglomerates and improve transparency, during a policy meeting today. The FTC made the announcement at today’s policy gathering in Seoul with [...]