Joint Response Team Conducts Search and Seizure at NH Investment & Securities
It has been revealed that a senior executive at NH Investment & Securities is implicated in the second case handled by the Joint Response Team, which the Lee Jaemyung administration has warned will serve as a prime example of the ruinous consequences of stock price manipulation. Financial authorities have immediately launched an intensive search and seizure operation.
On the 8th, the Joint Response Team for Eradicating Stock Price Manipulation, composed of the Financial Services Commission, the Financial Supervisory Service, and the Korea Exchange, is conducting a search and seizure at the NH Investment & Securities headquarters in connection with allegations that a senior executive at NH Investment & Securities was involved in the use of undisclosed information related to a public tender offer.
It has been found that over the past two years, the executive repeatedly shared critical information regarding public tender offers for 11 stocks managed by NH Investment & Securities with colleagues and acquaintances. These individuals purchased the stocks before the information was made public and sold all their holdings after the announcement, once the stock prices rose, thereby illicitly gaining approximately 2 billion KRW (about 2 billion won) in unfair profits.
According to trading analysis and fund tracking, there were frequent large-scale financial transactions, believed to be related to stock trading, between the securities firm's executive and the information recipients before and after the public tender announcements. There is also evidence suggesting that these parties shared the illicit gains.
Additionally, the suspects who traded stocks based on the received information used numerous nominee securities accounts under the names of relatives and others, frequently changing these accounts for trading. The Joint Response Team explained that this was likely an attempt to evade internal monitoring by the securities firm or oversight by financial authorities.
This is the second case for the Joint Response Team. The team, established in July to fulfill the Lee Jaemyung administration's national agenda of eradicating stock price manipulation, previously uncovered a 100 billion KRW (about 100 billion won) stock manipulation scheme involving wealthy individuals and financial experts as its first case, resulting in asset freezes.
Particularly noteworthy is that NH Investment & Securities, which is involved in this case, holds a dominant position as the lead securities firm overseeing public tender offers. From 2023 to the first half of 2025, NH Investment & Securities managed 28 out of a total of 55 public tender offers. The Joint Response Team stated, "This investigation will serve as an opportunity for the securities firm to self-examine its internal control system," adding, "In July, the Financial Services Commission's investigation division already conducted a separate search and seizure regarding another case of undisclosed information use by a staff member in charge of public tender offers at NH Investment & Securities."
The Joint Response Team emphasized its commitment to thoroughly uncovering acts by insiders, such as employees of financial firms and listed companies, who exploit their informational advantage to undermine the fairness of the capital market, reiterating that such actions are serious crimes equivalent to stock price manipulation. Furthermore, due to the high risk of undisclosed information misuse inherent in their work, the team plans to expand inspections and investigations targeting employees of financial firms and administrative agencies who often fall outside the scope of market surveillance.
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