Indictments for Deutsche Bank manipulations

Four employees of Deutsche Bank AG and its Korean brokerage unit have been indicted on charges of making massive profits from illegal stock market trading last year, prosecution officials said yesterday.

Three foreign employees, including a ranking official at the German bank’s Hong Kong office, and one Korean employee at Deutsche Securities Korea (DSK), are accused of pocketing 44.8 billion won ($41.3 million) through alleged market manipulation that triggered a sharp 2.7-percent plunge in the key local stock index Kospi on Nov. 11. The Korean brokerage unit was also indicted on the same charges.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said it believes that employees at the German bank’s overseas bureaus gave orders to the Seoul unit to place massive sell orders in the closing minutes of trading on that day, the expiry date of stock index options.

The sell orders were supposedly placed in order to bring handsome returns on their holdings of put options, which were structured to yield profits upon key index plunges.

Prosecutors said the indictment was based strictly on evidence since the foreign employees refused to answer a subpoena issued in April.

“This incident caused serious damage to the stability and transparency of Korea’s stock markets, which rank No. 1 in the world for option trade volumes,” said Lee Seok-hwan, the chief prosecutor in charge of the case.

If the employees refuse to appear before court, prosecutors said they plan to request their extradition from Hong Kong authorities after seeking a detention warrant, and ask Interpol for its cooperation.

The sum allegedly gained through illegal trading was seized under a Seoul court order earlier in the year.

Deutsche Bank said its local brokerage unit denies the charges and plans to defend them.

“Ultimately, DSK has every confidence in the Korean judicial system and that it will be cleared of the allegations,” the bank said in an e-mailed statement.

It added that the employees concerned are either suspended or on administrative leave and are expected to respond to their charges.

Yonhap

한글 관련 기사 [뉴시스]

`옵션쇼크` 거액챙긴 도이치은행 임직원들 기소

지난해 말 금융시장을 강타한 `옵션만기 쇼크`의 주범으로 지목된 도이치은행 임직원들이 결국 재판에 넘겨졌다.

서울중앙지검 금융조세조사1부(부장검사 이석환)는 주가조작을 통해 수백억원의 시세차익을 챙긴 도이치은행 홍콩지점 상무 A씨와 이사 B씨, 주식리스크 총책임자 C씨 등 4명을 자본시장법상 현·선연계 시세조종 혐의로 불구속 기소했다고 21일 밝혔다.

검찰은 한국도이치증권도 같은 혐의로 기소하는 한편 이들이 챙긴 부당이득액 448억7800만원을 전액 압수조치 했다.

A씨 등은 지난해 11월11일 주가가 떨어지면 이익을 보는 풋옵션을 대량 사들인 뒤 2조원 규모의 현물 주식을 장 막판에 팔아치워 주가지수를 급락시키는 수법으로 거액의 시세차익을 챙긴 혐의를 받고 있다.

당일 코스피 지수는 전일 대비 53.12포인트나 하락했으며 국내투자자들의 투자손해액 규모는 1400억원에 이른 것으로 파악됐다. 금융계 안팎에서는 이날을 `옵션쇼크`라고 표현할 정도로 사상 최대 규모의 주가조작 사태로 기록됐다.

외국인인 A(영국), B(프랑스), C(호주)씨는 검찰 소환 요구에 지속적으로 불응해 왔다. 수사당국은 이들이 향후 재판에도 불출석할 경우 법원으로부터 구금영장을 발부받아 범죄인인도를 요청할 계획이다.