The Legal 500

On July 17, 2013, the Ministry of Justice issued an advance legislative notice of a proposed partial amendment to the Commercial Code in order to improve corporate governance. The proposed amendment is schedule to be submitted to the National Assembly in the latter half of this year after the advance notice period expires on August 25, 2013.  

Further to the Personal Information Protection Act ( PIPA ), the comprehensive data privacy law passed in March 2011 which will take effect on September 30, 2011, 1 the government has unveiled draft regulations to flesh out a number of the applicable requirements and standards. The drafts of the Enforcement Decree and the Enforcement Regulations, published on May 24, 2011, include significant requirements relating to data security, which, like other provisions, apply to any entity that handles personal information files for work purposes (referred to as “data handlers” below). Also now spelled out are various details concerning consent requirements, website sign-up rules, video camera restrictions, use of third party data handlers, reporting of leaks, and collective dispute mediation.

In a move to stabilize Korean financial markets that have been battered by last week's U.S. credit downgrade, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced on August 9, 2011 that it would impose a temporary ban on all short selling of listed securities traded on the Korea Exchange (KRX), including the main board KOSPI markets and secondary tech-heavy KOSDAQ markets. On August 10, 2011, the KRX adopted the prohibition on short selling for three months (August 10 to November 9, 2011). At the height of the global financial crisis in 2008, a temporary ban on all short selling had also been imposed in an effort to prevent short selling from destabilizing the local bourse. In June 2009, the FSC lifted the ban at least on covered short selling of non-financial stocks. Naked short selling is prohibited under the existing rules, so this temporary ban will have the effect of prohibiting all types of covered short selling of securities listed on the KRX such as stocks, convertible bonds, bonds with warrants, equity-linked warrants (ELWs), equity-linked funds (ETFs), warrants and beneficiary certificates (but not straight bonds).

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced that the three-month ban on all short selling of listed securities traded on the Korea Exchange (KRX) will be lifted on non-financial stocks starting from November 10, 2011, while the ban will be maintained on financial stocks for the time being due to their greater vulnerability to external factors such as euro zone risks. However, this remaining ban on financial stocks will not extend to short selling by liquidity providers to provide quotations, which will continue to be permitted. On August 10, 2011, the KRX adopted a temporary ban on all short selling for three months following the U.S. credit downgrade.

Capsule summary: Under amended business combination reporting rules effective from January 1, 2012, stock acquisitions by large companies will generally trigger prior review by the Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC). Other rule changes will allow a broader range of presumptively harmless transactions to use a simplified or fast-track merger review process, but at the same time the changes will permit closer scrutiny of anti-competitive effect in case of transactions that do not qualify for that process. Also, in a late 2011 ruling, the KFTC for the first time imposed corrective measures for an offshore business combination.

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Planned changes to financial sector regulations expected to take effect September 2011 The Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Korea is poised to implement a slate of regulatory changes that will ease a number of the current constraints, and clarify standards, for the formation and operation of domestic hedge funds. First announced in draft form in late June 2011, the changes to the presidential decree promulgated under the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act (FSCMA) are for the most part expected to be finalized in August 2011, and to take effect in September 2011. The stated aim is to spur growth in Korean hedge funds, known technically as "collective investment vehicles aimed at qualified investors." The new rules will broaden the scope of eligible investors; ease current hedge fund operating limits such as the leverage cap; finalize eligibility criteria for hedge fund managers; and permit a wider range of prime broker activity, including securities lending for short sales. The rules remain subject to revision as they undergo final government review. The anticipated key rules, however, are as follows.        

On December 18, 2013, the Supreme Court of Korea held that the ordinary wages of employees of KB Auto Tech include fixed bonuses regularly paid. The decision impacts all employers in Korea, as ordinary wages are used to calculate overtime and compensation for unused annual leave, which may in turn impact severance pay. The following is a summary of the relevant issues.

 

Korean Constitutional Court ruled that a key provision of the Act on Prevention of Divulgence and Protection of Industrial Technology (as established as Act No. 8062 on October 27, 2006, and before amended by Act No. 10962 on July 25, 2011, the "Industrial Technology Protection Act" or "the Act") is unconstitutional (July 25, 2013, 2011Heonba39).

Amendments to the Commercial Building Lease Protection Act (the "Act", and as amended, the "Amended Act") were promulgated on August 13, 2013.