A former chief financial regulator was acquitted Monday of charges that he violated an ethics law by holding an equity stake in a trust company, court officials said.
Under the country's ethics law, high-ranking public officials are required to offload such stakes or put them in an anonymous trust before taking office so they can not influence management of the assets while they are in public posts.
Kim Jong-chang was charged with not getting rid of 40,000 shares in Asia Trust Co. under his wife's name, before assuming his three-year term as chairman of the Financial Supervisory Service, in breach of the Public Servant's Ethics.
The realty trust company invested around 9 billion won ($7.91 million) in the now-suspended Busan Savings Bank, which was embroiled in a massive corruption scandal recently.
"Public officials, who are subject to asset disclosure, are punished when they do not offload their shares. However there is no regulation stipulating that the public officials are punished" when other family members retain their shares, the Seoul Central District Court said in a ruling.
"Though there is room for doubt that Kim owned the shares under his spouse's name, the prosecution has not presented solid proof," the court added. (Yonhap)