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Photo = Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Kyosik] Seoul, Sept. 25 – A Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance executive has come under scrutiny after purchasing company shares just before the firm announced a major share buyback and cancellation, later selling the stock for a short-term profit.
According to data submitted by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) to Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Hyun-jung, the executive bought 60 shares on January 24 and 30 shares on January 31. On the same day, Samsung Fire disclosed a shareholder value enhancement plan that included the cancellation of treasury shares. The announcement triggered an 11.7% surge in the share price to KRW 381,500.
The executive, who purchased shares at a yearly low of around KRW 340,000, later sold all holdings on June 24 at approximately KRW 440,000, earning about KRW 8 million (USD 5,800) in short-term trading gains.
Samsung Fire said it has recovered the entire profit from the executive, in line with regulations. However, critics argue the trading pattern could raise concerns of insider dealing under Korea’s Capital Markets Act, which prohibits the use of undisclosed material information for personal gain.
Lawmaker Kim emphasized that such cases undermine market fairness and trust, urging reforms to require all listed company executives to pre-disclose trading plans, rather than only monitoring large-scale transactions.
According to the FSS, insider short-swing trading profits at listed firms have been on the rise, with 109 cases totaling KRW 149.8 billion identified between 2022 and 2024.
Samsung Fire stated, “The executive voluntarily reported the trade after selling the shares, and the full short-term profit was returned immediately in accordance with company rules. We will strengthen oversight to prevent similar cases in the future.”
Alphabiz 김교식 기자(ntaro@alphabiz.co.kr)
