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| The Mirae Asset Financial Group headquarters building in Seoul / Courtesy of Mirae Asset Financial Group |
By Park Jae-hyuk
Mirae Asset Financial Group has been under antitrust investigation over an allegation that it offered unfair profits to the chairman's family, according to industry officials, Tuesday.
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said it notified Mirae Asset of possible sanctions it could face.
The antitrust watchdog will convene a meeting early next year at the earliest, to make a final decision on sanctions against the financial services group.
Although the FTC declined to comment in detail, it is considering referring the corporate body of Mirae Asset and Chairman Park Hyeon-joo to prosecutors, according to sources.
Since the Financial Supervisory Service asked the FTC in December 2017 to investigate Mirae Asset for its alleged intra-group transactions aimed at offering unfair profits to the chairman's family, the antitrust watchdog has zeroed in on Mirae Asset Consulting, the group's holding company which is virtually owned by Park and his family members.
According to Mirae Asset Consulting's regulatory filing, the chairman's family holds over a 90 percent stake in the unit which provides real estate consulting servicesp.
The FTC suspects the group's subsidiaries provided Mirae Asset Consulting with earnings from managing the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul and Blue Mountain Country Club.
The Fair Trade Act bans conglomerate owners from making unfair profits from intra-group transactions, and those who violate the law could pay up to 5 percent of the gains from the unfair intra-group transactions in fines.
Mirae Asset has denied the watchdog's claim, saying it did not conduct unfair intra-group transactions to profit the chairman's family.
"We were recently notified by the FTC. After monitoring the notification thoroughly, we will present our written opinion in accordance with standard procedure," a Mirae Asset spokesman said. "We will give enough explanations at the forthcoming FTC meeting."
