Report sends Mirae into a tailspin
Mirae Asset Securities, Korea’s second-biggest brokerage by market value, fell by a record in Seoul trading on a report a manager at the asset management unit allegedly engaged in illegal stock trading.The stock plunged 14 percent to 138,000 won ($149.6) at the market close, the biggest drop since it began trading in Seoul on Feb. 15, 2006.
The shares have more than doubled this year, compared with a 24 percent gain on the benchmark Kospi index.
A fund manager at Mirae Asset Investments allegedly engaged in illegal stock trading, MoneyToday reported yesterday, without saying where it obtained the information.
The report is “totally groundless,” Mirae Asset Management said in an e- mailed response to the article.
The Financial Supervisory Service, the top financial watchdog, plans to conduct an inspection of local banks, brokerages and insurers if they violate any rules when operating their businesses, the Korean-language Internet news provider said in the report yesterday.
“It seems investors are rushing to take profits as they’re concerned about the bearish stock market and the bad rumors about Mirae Asset ahead of the regulatory inspection,” said Mo Jae-sung at Hanwha Investment Trust Management.
Korea’s stocks declined for a seventh day yesterday, with the Kospi heading for its longest losing streak in more than four years on concern that global economic growth will slow from credit market losses in the United States. Bloomberg
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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