South Korea Targets JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Nomura, and UBS with Short-Selling Penalties

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South Korea's financial regulator has decided to fine JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Nomura, and UBS for breaching short-selling rules in the country's stock market, according to officials from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). 

An official confirmed the imposition of administrative sanctions in the form of fines but declined to provide further details, as the decision had not been officially announced. The Securities and Futures Commission made the ruling on Wednesday, as reported by another FSS official.

Nomura stated it was unaware of any decision from the regulator and could not comment. JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley also declined to comment, while UBS did not immediately respond to requests for a statement.

In South Korea, naked short-selling—selling stocks without borrowing them first or confirming they can be borrowed—is prohibited under the Capital Markets Act.

The country plans to lift a market-wide short-selling ban in March 2024, which was introduced in November 2023, once it has a system in place to detect illegal trading activity.

Paraphrasing text from "Reuters" all rights reserved by the original author