South Korea’s financial watchdog has imposed sanctions on relatives of big name companies and celebrities for engaging in illegal foreign exchange trading worth $40 million, officials said Friday.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) decided to issue warnings against 39 individuals including LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo’s sister and Lee Soo-man, the founder of S.M. Entertainment Co., for violating the foreign currency transactions law, according to the officials.
They will be also suspended from foreign exchange transactions for up to one year, the watchdog said.
The FSS has investigated the allegations that dozens of business people and their families had purchased expensive real estate in foreign countries including the United States without reporting it to the authorities.
Under the local regulations, all South Korean nationals and residents who buy overseas assets or engage in foreign direct investment are required to report their transactions to the financial authorities.
Their sanctions will be finalized by the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the top financial regulatory body, later this month. (Yonhap)
