Prosecution Seeks Prison Sentences for Affinity and Anjin Accounting Firm in 'Kyobo Life Put Option' Case

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] The prosecution has requested prison sentences for employees of the financial investor (FI) Affinity Consortium involved in the legal trial over Kyobo Life Insurance and the put option, as well as for accountants from Deloitte Anjin Accounting Firm.

According to the Seoul Central District Court on the 20th, in the final hearing of the first trial related to the Kyobo Life put option lawsuit, the prosecution requested imprisonment for the main defendants.

At the 9th hearing held that day, the prosecutor requested prison sentences of 1 year and 6 months each for two accountants from Deloitte Anjin Accounting Firm, along with a fine of 126.7 million KRW.

Two Affinity Consortium officials and one accountant from Anjin Accounting Firm who performed calculation tasks were each requested to receive a prison sentence of 1 year.

The sentencing date for the first trial of the two Affinity Consortium officials and three accountants from Deloitte Anjin Accounting Firm is scheduled for February 10.

The prosecution is known to have questioned the defendants by presenting emails containing pre-calculated information from investors such as Baring PE, stating that "to achieve the target internal rate of return of 7.3%, a price above 376,000 KRW must be reached."

Meanwhile, Kyobo Life Insurance plans to file a preliminary review for an initial public offering (IPO) with the Korea Exchange on the 21st. The lead underwriters are NH Investment & Securities, Mirae Asset Securities, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan, and Citi. Typically, for large companies, once the preliminary review for listing is filed, a fast track is applied, and the review is completed within about a month. However, the process including the securities registration statement and demand forecasting takes about 3 to 4 months. Accordingly, Kyobo Life Insurance expects the IPO to be completed as early as the first half of next year.