Vice Chair Kim So-young "Considering Dividend Tax System Improvement with Value-Up Incentives"

"Timing of Short Selling Resumption Depends on Progress of System Improvements"

Kim So-young, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

Kim So-young, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, announced plans to pursue improvements in dividend taxation related to the 'Corporate Value-Up Program.'

According to the Financial Services Commission on the 15th, Vice Chairman Kim stated in a recent interview with Bloomberg, "We are doing our best to create a system where individual investors and companies can accumulate assets and wealth through the capital market."

Vice Chairman Kim explained, "The corporate value-up measures will help address various challenges our economy faces, such as aging and low growth," adding, "Our goal is to create a stock market that grows in the medium to long term."

After the Corporate Value-Up Program was unveiled, there were criticisms about the lack of incentives. In this regard, Vice Chairman Kim mentioned that they are considering benefits such as tax rate reductions or tax credits for companies that expand dividends as shareholder return measures aligned with the value-up policy's intent.

Vice Chairman Kim also addressed the short-selling ban. He said, "Whether short-selling will resume after June depends on the progress of institutional improvements," and added, "We will decide on resumption after comprehensively considering the progress of institutional improvements to strengthen short-selling transaction monitoring and the financial market situation."

Earlier, the Financial Services Commission temporarily banned short-selling entirely until June this year. This move sparked criticism that it was aimed at gaining the favor of individual investors ahead of the April general elections.