"'Corporate Raider' Carl Icahn Fined 2.7 Billion KRW for Disclosure Violation"

Loan Secured by 80% of Company Shares
Neither iCan nor the Company Disclose

Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn, known as a 'corporate raider,' has been fined $2 million (approximately 2.67 billion KRW) for violating disclosure obligations.

On the 19th (local time), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it imposed this fine on Icahn and Icahn Enterprises, where he is the controlling shareholder, for violating disclosure requirements. Icahn agreed to pay $500,000 (670 million KRW), and Icahn Enterprises agreed to pay $1.5 million (approximately 2 billion KRW) in fines.

According to the SEC investigation, from the end of 2018 until recently, Icahn took out stock-secured loans worth billions of dollars using shares of the publicly traded Icahn Enterprises as collateral, but neither Icahn nor the company disclosed this. Icahn, as the controlling shareholder holding 85% of Icahn Enterprises, reportedly pledged between 51% and 82% of the company's total outstanding shares as collateral for these loans at times.

The SEC stated, "Federal law imposes individual disclosure obligations on both Icahn and Icahn Enterprises," adding, "Such disclosures would have revealed that Icahn consistently pledged more than half of Icahn Enterprises' outstanding shares as collateral."