Hyundai Chairwoman to face prosecution probe
Hyun Jeong-eun allegedly left out six affiliates, owned by members of her family, from reports submitted to Seoul’s antitrust watchdog
By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said Monday that it will file a complaint with the prosecution against Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun on charges of falsely reporting the group’s ownership.
According to the antitrust agency, by filing false reports, Hyundai Group has been able to dodge the FTC oversight of whether it is involved in inter-subsidiary dealings, designed to offer undue favours to companies owned by the chairwoman’s siblings or nephews.
The FTC officials said Hyun deliberately left out six affiliates, owned by members of her family, from its reports on the group’s affiliate structure, which was submitted to the agency between 2000 and 2015.
Under the Fair Trade Act, business groups with assets valued at more than 10 trillion won (US$8.76 billion) are obliged to disclose the list of their affiliates and of their controlling stakeholders.
But Hyundai Group did not report Hyundai SNS and five companies as its units since 2000, making it possible for the group to conduct unlimited dealings with them without being under any government oversight, FTC said.