FTC official “There is no precedent for designating the same foreigner”
Coupang is expected to be designated as a conglomerate group with no total number at the end of this month.
According to the industry and the government on the 6th, the Fair Trade Commission tentatively decided to designate Coupang as a business group subject to disclosure (large business group), but to designate’the same person’ (the total number) as a corporation rather than the founder, Chairman Kim Bum-seok.
The same person is the actual controller of the enterprise and is responsible for all responsibilities related to the data designated by the large corporate group.
Depending on who the FTC designates as the same person, the company subject to the sanctions for specially related persons and total number of days may change.
In order to curb the concentration of economic power of large corporations, the FTC designates a group with a total asset of 5 trillion won or more as a disclosure target business group and imposes a regulation on private interests in the total number of days, and a duty to disclose large-scale internal transactions.
The FTC estimates that Coupang’s assets exceed 5 trillion won, considering the increase in the price of the logistics center site.
The FTC determines the same person based on whether they exercise control.
The actual owner of Coupang is the founder, Chairman Kim, who owns a 10.2% stake in Coupang and holds 76.7% of the voting rights when applying differential voting rights.
However, there is no case of a foreigner designated by the FTC as the same person, so it is unlikely that Kim, a US national, will be designated the same person.
It is expected that a corporation, not an individual, will become a corporation like POSCO or KT in charge of the same person.
Kakao Chairman Kim Beom-soo and Lee Hae-jin, Naver Global Investment Manager (GIO), are designated as’the same person’.
An official from the Fair Trade Commission said, “There is no case where a foreigner is designated as the same person,” and said, “Even if a natural person is not designated as the same person, the regulatory gap does not occur because it is subject to Article 23, Paragraph 7 of the Fair Trade Act.”
Article 23, Paragraph 7 of the Fair Trade Act prohibits the provision of goods, real estate, etc. to specially related persons or other companies, or trading on very favorable terms.
It is explained that even if Chairman Kim is not designated as the same person, he can look into it as part of a specially related person.
/yunhap news
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