The Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act(hereinafter referred to as “The Capital Markets Act”) prescribes that using, or having another person use, the non-public material information relating to affairs, etc. of a listed corporat...
The Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act(hereinafter referred to as “The Capital Markets Act”) prescribes that using, or having another person use, the non-public material information relating to affairs, etc. of a listed corporation is prohibited for the purpose of the purchase, sale or other transactions of specific securities, etc. The clause in the Capital Markets Act is to protect fairness in capital market and investor's trust through regulation on taking advantage of unfair information gap. In terms of criminal law, protection of fairness in capital market and investor's trust becomes legal interest as social interest. In addition, there is a separate provision for aggravated punishment in case where the profits gained or losses evaded by the offense exceed a certain amount. In that case not only social interest primarily but also private interest such as property right secondly becomes legal interest. Meanwhile, according to the Capital Markets Act, all activities of exploiting unfair information gap are not subject to punishment. The Capital Markets Act regulates only those who have superior status in accessing to a listed corporation work-related information and those who directly receive information from them. It falls under a corporation relationship-oriented regulatory model. Its legal features are abstract endangering offenses and administrative offenses. So possibility of damaging fairness in capital market and investor's trust is enough to constitute a crime. Insider trading shall be punished as administrative offenses for a country to effectively perform function of capital market.
The Capital Markets Act fundamentally regulates the use of work-related information as insider-trading and exceptionally regulates the use of market information by having a special provision. In case of regulation of use of work-related information, listed corporation-related persons, who have superior status in accessing to a listed corporation-related information, become the subject of regulation only when those come to know information in relation to affairs, etc. based on each status. “In relation to affairs, etc.” means superior status in accessing to a listed corporation-related information by each status. At this point, the content of the corporation-related information does not have to be connected with the content of their affairs. The knowing of the corporation-related information means not only the production of information or participation in the production of information but also the receipt of information already produced. Only the primary information receiver who directly receive information from the corporation-related persons is regulated by the Capital Markets Act.
The corporation-related information can be divided into occurring information and deciding information based on the cause of information production, work-related information and market information based on the content of information, and bullish information and bearish information based on the general investment direction of investors. Outside information is regulated if the content of information is the corporation-related information. The timing of production of material information is basically decided according to the principle of the probability/gravity. The gravity means that, if disclosed, information can enormously make an effect on the management of the corporation or stock price. The probability is the degree of possibility of occurring material information. It is not enough to have mere possibility of occurring, but does not require high degree of possibility of occurring. A considerable degree of possibility would fit the definition.
The transaction does not have to exist because the act prohibited is the use of the non-public material information in the transaction, not the transaction using the information. So to present the quote in the market by using non-public material information means the starting of a crime and end of a crime because then there occurs a potential risk for investors to buy or sell stocks at that quote without knowledge of such information. This interpretation fits the feature of abstract endangering offenses.
The act of making another person use information ends when forwarding information with the intention of making another person use information because then there occurs a potential risk that could damage fairness in capital market and protection of investor's trust by growing possibility of taking advantage of information gap by information receiver. So the act of making another person use information does not require the act of use by information receiver.
The Capital Markets Act regulates the act of using only non-public information of a tender offer and of acquisition and disposal of substantial amount of stocks, etc. as market information in a special provision. It shall be subject to regulation where a tender offeror or a person who acquires or disposes substantial amount of stocks is not only a listed corporation but also a natural person. Regardless of the importance of information, information of a tender offer and of acquisition and disposal of substantial amount of stocks is regulated. Specific securities relating to stocks, etc. for trading are interpreted not only as securities connected with stocks with the voting right but also as specific securities relating to the stock-listed corporation which issued the stocks. A tender offeror or a person who acquires or disposes substantial amount of stocks can accumulate stocks in advance for the purpose of performing a tender offer or acquiring and disposing of substantial amount of stocks.
Unlike the Securities and Exchange Act(old version of the Capital Markets Act), regulation is reinforced in the Capital Markets Act by expanding scope of the subject of the act of using non-public material information and scope of information as well as scope of securities which are subject to regulation. Still there are things to be improved in terms of interpretation.
First, there is a need to alleviate or remove requirements the way of possession of information asked to the corporation-related persons and information passage paths asked to the information receiver because there is no difference in the use of unfair information gap no matter how information was possessed or no matter what information passage paths there were. Moreover, it is necessary to regulate those not subject to regulation even though they have superior status in accessing to the corporation-related information compared with ordinary investors. For example outsider who produced information about a listed corporation, a person related with the corporation subject to a tender offer or a person related with the listed corporation subject to acquisition and disposal of substantial amount of stocks, etc. It is required to have a provision that those within certain scope are considered as the primary information receiver or to regulate illegal information receiver and an information receiver after the second stage as long as the content of information is not changed because it is hard to prove how information was passed to the information receiver.
Next stage is to add information of affiliated companies and market information in the regulation scope. In the meantime, judicial precedents are not consistent with how to estimate illegal profits, but I think that the timing of estimation should be the same for both realized profit and unrealized profit. I would suggest that the timing of estimation must be based on the day of information disclosure and if limit price exists, and the price should be based on the closing price of the day when limit price ends. Ultimately it would be appropriate to stipulate the estimation method in the law. It is also necessary to forfeiture or collect the illegal profits from criminals through adoption of compulsory confiscation provision.
There still exists a limit fundamentally in prohibiting insider trading with regulatory provision established in corporate relationship-oriented manner in the Capital Markets Act. Compared with examples of foreign legislation, the scope for regulation is narrow in terms of regulated subject, regulated information and types of prohibited activities. In the long term, we need to examine expansion of regulation on the use of non-public material information in consideration of its international level and purpose.
* Please note that the term “insider trading” is used instead of “using non-public material information(Korean version of insider trading) because insider trading is more commonly used in Foreign Legislation.