FTC Denies 5 Chaebols" Objections Over Internal Transactions Fines

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) did not accept most of the objections that the five biggest chaebols raised over fines they incurred from their internal business practices. However, Samsung and SK could have their fines reduced by one billion won and 660 million won respectively.
The FTC announced on October 11 that it will not accept the objections of Hyundai, Daewoo, and LG over the fines the companies were imposed but they will lower the fines of Samsung and SK. Samsung argued on the extent of Samsung Insurance's alleged support in Samsung Motors and Samsung Everland by buying commercial papers of these companies. SK's objection was that some SK subsidiaries including SK Corporations allegedly supported SK securities.
A source at the FTC said that although the chaebols stopped the internal transactions and retracted their financial support after the first judgment, the FTC did not accept the chaebols' objections over the penalties. The FTC plans to classify as illegal internal transactions as part of their new criteria in examining companies. The FTC is in its second round of investigations into subsidiaries that were not included in the first round. Beginning last May, the FTC examined the internal transactions of the five biggest chaebols and imposed 72.2 billion won in fines on the companies.