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[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Kim Jisun] The Financial Supervisory Service has launched an investigation into Meritz Securities (Meritz Financial Group), which earned billions of won by selling more than 26 million shares just before the suspension of trading of Ewha Electro-Mechanics shares.
The Financial Supervisory Service plans to investigate whether Meritz Securities was aware of undisclosed information related to Ewha Group's stock price surge, whether it affected the stock price in the process of selling its shares, and why it invested large sums of money in Ewha Group affiliates that were in the red.
Listed affiliates in Ewha Group, including Ehwa Technologies Information, Etron and EID, were suspended from May 10-12 after former Ewha Group Chairman Kim Young-joon was arrested on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust. Earlier in April, the stock price of Ewha Group shares surged after it was known that EID entered the secondary battery business and Ewha Electro-Mechanics acquired a stake in EID with a third-party paid-in capital increase, but former chairman Kim was suddenly arrested and the deal was blocked.
However, Meritz Securities sold 26 million shares of Ewha Electro-Mechanics on four occasions from May 4 to 10, just before the suspension of trading, earning nearly 9 billion won in profits. It is a stock received at 604 won per share by exercising the right to buy new shares (BW) worth 40 billion won invested in 2021. Politicians, including Lee Yong-woo of the Democratic Party of Korea, and investor groups such as the Korea Stock Investor Association have raised suspicions that Meritz Securities was aware of undisclosed information.
According to the financial investment industry and the Financial Supervisory Service on the 24th, the Financial Supervisory Service's capital market investigation bureau began an investigation into Meritz Securities, which sold Ewha Electro-Mechanics shares just before the suspension of trading. Meritz Securities exercised its right to take over BW on April 20 and acquired 26.49 million shares of Ewha Electro-Mechanics for 604 won per share on May 4. Previously, KRW 40 billion was invested, but KRW 24 billion of which was repaid first by Ehwa Technologies Information and the remaining KRW 16 billion by BW. Since then, all of its holdings have been sold in the market four times from May 4 to 10.
The Financial Supervisory Service is first focusing on whether Meritz Securities used undisclosed information inside Ewha Group.
AlphaBIZ 김지선(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
