By Park Hyong-ki
Financial regulators here did not exert influence over the merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries, Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Yim Jong-yong said Thursday.
In a meeting with the National Assembly Policy Committee, the FSC chief said the regulator did not intervene to support the merger and found no evidence of Samsung using inside information for it.
“The regulator did not file a complaint with the prosecutor as we did not uncover any irregularities with regards to (Samsung executives) using inside information for the merger in our investigation,” Yim said.
This comes as Lee Jae-yong, the heir apparent of Samsung Group, is currently being investigated by the special prosecution on whether Samsung provided money to Choi Soon-sil’s foundations in return for favors, including the National Pension Service’s (NPS) support for the merger.
Speculation is growing that the FSC might have backed the merger deal with the welfare ministry through the NPS for President Park Geun-hye’s close associate Choi, given that NPS’s financial dealings including equity holdings also fall under the FSC’s regulatory jurisdiction.
Also, the FSC chief said that the regulator did not grant any favors to Samsung BioLogics to list on the KOSPI as speculated by a civic group.
“The Korea Exchange has encouraged Samsung BioLogics, which initially eyed the NASDAQ, to go public here numerous times as the exchange sought to attract a big-cap listing,” he told the committee.
However, Yim did admit that the regulator and the exchange had to ease some listing rules to attract companies with potential but currently posting losses from having initial public offerings abroad.
The People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, a civic group, claimed that Samsung BioLogics was able to record a profit in its books in 2015 after four years of losses, only after taking into account the rising value of its subsidiary Samsung Bioepis. In other words, it could not have made a profit from its core operations, which does not justify its listing.
Samsung BioLogics has a 93 percent stake in Bioepis, which researches and designs biosimilar drugs for BioLogics to develop.
In response to lawmakers’ request for a special audit of Samsung BioLogics, Financial Supervisory Service Governor Zhin Woong-seob said that he will decide on the matter after discussing it with the FSC.
However, he said that an audit of Bioepis did not show any irregularities, and that under accounting standards, it was appropriate to record consolidated finances that include those of subsidiaries for parent companies, in this case, BioLogics.