"Securities and Futures Commission Reports Former SBS Employee to Prosecution for 800 Million Won Profit Using Netflix Partnership Information"

The financial authorities have reported a former SBS employee to the prosecution for using undisclosed internal information to gain approximately 800 million won in unfair profits.

The Securities and Futures Commission under the Financial Services Commission announced on January 7, during a regular meeting, that it had reported and notified the prosecution of a broadcasting company employee who gained unfair profits by using favorable internal information, for violating the Capital Markets Act’s prohibition on the use of undisclosed material information.

According to the Securities and Futures Commission, Employee A, who was formerly with SBS, worked as a disclosure officer in the finance team at the time. He obtained internal information that SBS and Netflix were forming a strategic partnership, and together with his family, purchased shares between October and December 2024, making approximately 830 million won in unfair profits.

At the end of December of the same year, after the official announcement of the partnership between SBS and Netflix, SBS’s stock price hit the upper limit for two consecutive days.

Currently, the financial authorities are conducting additional investigations into the possible involvement of other SBS employees besides A. An official from the Securities and Futures Commission stated, “There is a possibility that some other employees are involved in addition to A, so we are conducting further investigations. We plan to conclude the investigation quickly and take action regarding any violations.”

In addition, the Financial Services Commission has reported former director B and former largest shareholder and former CEO C to the prosecution on charges of unfair trading. They are accused of falsely stating the source of acquisition funds in order to acquire shares and management rights of a KOSDAQ-listed company without capital.

B falsely reported the source of acquisition funds as his own funds on three occasions in 2021 when submitting large shareholding reports, intending to sell the listed company’s shares at a high price. He also delayed reporting despite providing the shares to be acquired as collateral. C, the transferor, knowing that the acquisition funds came from another party, falsely stated the acquirer’s source of funds in the public disclosure of the change in largest shareholder, with the intention of selling the shares at a high price, thereby concealing the fact of a no-capital merger and acquisition (M&A). This constitutes a violation of the Capital Markets Act, which can result in imprisonment for more than one year or a criminal penalty of up to six times the amount of unfair profits.