"Joint Response Team for Eradicating Stock Price Manipulation Expanded... Two-Team System Launched"

The financial authorities will expand the "Joint Response Team for Eradicating Stock Price Manipulation" to a two-team system in order to fundamentally block stock price manipulation. The goal is to significantly strengthen the forced investigation workforce to accelerate the detection and sanctioning of unfair trading practices.

On the morning of the 14th, Kwon Daeyoung, Chairman of the Securities and Futures Commission, held a meeting at the Korea Exchange in Yeouido, Seoul, to review the expansion plan of the Joint Response Team for Eradicating Stock Price Manipulation. During the meeting, the Financial Services Commission, the Financial Supervisory Service, the Korea Exchange, and the Joint Response Team discussed and finalized measures to sustain and enhance the effectiveness of the Joint Response Team. Financial Services Commission.

The Financial Services Commission, Financial Supervisory Service, and Korea Exchange announced on January 14 that they had finalized the plan to expand and reorganize the Joint Response Team during a meeting presided over by Kwon Daeyoung, Chairman of the Securities and Futures Commission. After swiftly completing administrative procedures such as revising the organization, personnel appointments, and training, the Joint Response Team will officially operate under the new two-team system.

The Joint Response Team was launched in July last year as an inter-agency collaborative organization to eradicate unfair trading in the capital market. It brought together the Financial Services Commission's forced investigations, the Financial Supervisory Service's general investigations, and the Korea Exchange's rapid review into a single team. Since its launch, it has achieved tangible results in its first and second cases, including account freezes and search and seizure operations.

Meanwhile, President Lee Jaemyung accelerated the expansion of the organization by instructing during the Financial Services Commission's work report in December last year, "Review the plan to create one or two more teams within the Joint Response Team to encourage competition."

The existing Joint Response Team operated as a three-unit, one-team system, comprising the Forced Investigation Unit (Financial Services Commission), General Investigation Unit (Financial Supervisory Service), and Rapid Review Unit (Korea Exchange). Going forward, one additional Forced Investigation Unit and one additional General Investigation Unit will be established, expanding the team into a two-team structure. The Rapid Review Unit will provide common support to both teams.

The first team's Forced Investigation Unit will consist of a total of eight members, including the director and all investigators from the Capital Market Investigation Division of the Financial Services Commission. The second team's Forced Investigation Unit will be staffed with seven additional personnel secured through the organizational restructuring. In addition, discussions will be held with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Economy and Finance to secure further investigation personnel.

The Financial Supervisory Service will initially assign 14 members to the second team's General Investigation Unit, with plans to gradually expand this to a total of 20. To minimize any gaps in the Financial Supervisory Service's main investigation capacity caused by the increase in personnel for the Joint Response Team, 30 additional investigators will be added in the first half of the year. In addition, two investigators with hands-on experience in digital forensics will be assigned to further strengthen evidence analysis capabilities.

The financial authorities plan to use the expansion of the Joint Response Team as an opportunity to further strengthen administrative sanctions under the "one-strike-out" principle. They intend to quickly complete the analysis of seized items and the securing of evidence, and strictly enforce sanctions such as imposing fines of up to twice the amount of unjust gains, restricting transactions in financial investment products, and limiting the appointment of executives.

An official from the Financial Services Commission stated, "The two-team structure, which combines competition and cooperation, will create synergy," adding, "We expect to uncover more cases of stock price manipulation leading to financial ruin and to sanction them swiftly."