25 Million Won Reward Approved for Whistleblower Reporting Unfair Trading in Capital Market

The Securities and Futures Commission under the Financial Services Commission announced on November 12 that, at its 20th meeting, it had decided to award a reward of 25 million won to a whistleblower who reported unfair trading practices in the capital market, in accordance with the "Decision on the Capital Market and Financial Investment Business," among other regulations.

The whistleblower described the circumstances in which the suspect used fraudulent means, schemes, and techniques, and submitted relevant supporting evidence. Based on the whistleblower's report, the Financial Supervisory Service identified the likelihood of unfair trading and launched a special investigation. As a result, the Securities and Futures Commission, following the findings of the Financial Supervisory Service, referred one suspect to law enforcement for violating the prohibition on unfair trading activities.

This year, the Securities and Futures Commission has reviewed and approved a total of four reward payments, with the average amount awarded being approximately 78.9 million won. This is about 2.4 times higher than last year's average reward amount of approximately 32.4 million won across six cases.

The reward payments for reporting unfair trading this year were as follows: 103.1 million won at the 10th meeting on May 21, 93.7 million won at the 17th meeting on September 24, 93.7 million won at the 19th meeting on October 29, and 25 million won at the 20th meeting on November 12.

The Financial Services Commission stated, "We are closely coordinating with the National Assembly and the Ministry of Economy and Finance to increase the budget so that the amount of rewards for whistleblowers can be expanded next year," adding, "In order to ensure the soundness and trust of the capital market, it is most important to detect and swiftly block illegal activities at an early stage."

Reports can be submitted anonymously. However, in order to receive a reward, the whistleblower must submit documentation proving their identity and status as the informant within one year from the date of the report.