FTC to investigate insider trading

The overseas subsidiaries of the top 30 business groups will be investigated for insider trading with their domestic affiliates. The Fair Trade Commission announced that it would include the overseas subsidiaries in the investigation for insider trading by asserting that the methods used for insider trading are becoming more and more intellectual and there is a

possibility that the overseas subsidiaries and their domestic affiliates are illegally supporting each other through international transactions.

Consequently, the commission is reviewing the investigation methods and the fair trade law to be applied on these overseas subsidiaries.

An official of the commission asserted that the focus of the investigation for insider trading has so far been on between the domestic affiliates, as overseas subsidiaries follow the laws of the countries that they are established to operate in. The official said there is a possibility that the business groups could have used their overseas subsidiaries for insider trading as it has become extremely difficult for them to do so with domestic

affiliates. The official added that the current fair trade law does not restrict investigations of insider trading to domestic affiliates. He went on to say that although it is difficult to perform an investigation of overseas subsidiaries, the commission will start by looking into the transaction details between the overseas subsidiaries and their affiliates.