On the 11th of last month (local time), the first day of listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Kim Bum-seok, Chairman of the Coupang Board of Directors, poses with a smile in front of the New York Stock Exchange decorated with a Coupang banner. AP Yonhap News
Coupang, which recently successfully listed on the New York Stock Exchange, is expected to be designated as a’large business group’, which is the subject of various corporate regulations in the near future. However, unlike most large corporations, Coupang is expected to become a’large corporate group without a total number’. This is because the actual owner, Chairman of the Board of Directors Kim Bum-seok, is a U.S. citizen.
According to industry sources on the 6th, the Fair Trade Commission tentatively concluded on the 30th to designate Coupang as a business group subject to disclosure (large business group).
In order to curb the concentration of large corporations’ economic power, the FTC designates groups with total assets of 5 trillion won or more as large corporations and imposes restrictions on private interests in the total number of households, and the obligation to disclose large-scale internal transactions. The Fair Trade Commission estimates that Coupang’s assets exceeded 5 trillion won as of the end of last year, taking into account the increase in the price of the logistics center site.
The FTC designates a large corporate group and also appoints’the same person (total number)’, which means the actual control of the enterprise. The same person has all the responsibilities related to the data designated by the conglomerate, and depending on who the same person is, the company subject to the sanctions for private interests of a person with a special relationship may be changed.
Currently, the actual owner of Coupang is Chairman Kim, the founder who holds 10.2% of the total stake and 76.7% of the voting rights when applying differential voting rights.
However, it is unlikely that Kim will be designated the same person. There are no cases where the FTC has designated a foreigner as the same person, because Chairman Kim is a US national. Accordingly, it is expected that Coupang will be registered as the same person, not an individual, such as POSCO or KT.
Some argue that the designation of a’corporate group without a total number’ is a preferential treatment. It is said that the obligation to disclose various transactions between the total number and related persons can be avoided. Previously, Naver requested the designation of a conglomerate group without a total number when it was first designated as a conglomerate group in 2017, but was not accepted.
Accordingly, the Fair Trade Commission confronted that “there is no preferential treatment even for a business group without a total number.” The Fair Trade Commission distributed explanatory data on that day, saying, “A business group that does not have a total number may be subject to the provisions for the prohibition of unfair support activities pursuant to Article 23, Paragraph 1, No. 7 of the Fair Trade Act.” Insisted.
Sejong= Youngha Son reporter [email protected]
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