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| ▲ Bang Si-hyuk, founder and chairman of Hybe, attends a general meeting of the Federation of Korea Industries on Feb. 20, 2025. (Yonhap) |
Hybe founder-prosecution
Hybe chairman faces possible prosecution over IPO flaws: sources
SEOUL, July 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Financial Securities Commission (FSC) is set to refer Bang Si-hyuk, the chairman and founder of K-pop powerhouse Hybe, to the prosecution on charges of fraudulent securities transactions, industry sources said Wednesday.
According to the sources, the FSC's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) recently held a deliberation committee meeting and decided to move forward with the complaint.
The final decision will be made at a regular SFC meeting slated for next Wednesday, they said.
Chairman Bang is accused of misleading investors in 2020 by stating he had no plans to go public with the company, months before Hybe's initial public offering (IPO) in October, encouraging the investors to sell their stakes in the company to a private equity fund before it went public in October that year.
Bang allegedly signed a deal with the equity fund to share a portion of the gains from Hybe's IPO, and is believed to have received 200 billion won (US$145.5 million) from the fund after the company went public.
Authorities suspect that Bang made such arrangements to circumvent the lock-up system, which prohibits major shareholders or employees from selling company shares for a certain period following an IPO.
"We apologize for the public concern caused by the news related to our IPO process," Hybe said, adding that the company is working closely with authorities to verify facts.
"Even if it takes time, the company plans to explain that the IPO was carried out in compliance with existing laws and regulations," it added.
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