Trading Stocks Based on Adverse Non-Public Information... ShillaJen Executive Acquitted in First Trial

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] A ShillaJen executive accused of avoiding losses worth billions of won by selling stocks after learning undisclosed adverse information in advance was acquitted in the first trial.

The Criminal Division 12 of the Seoul Southern District Court (Presiding Judge Oh Sang-yong) on the 18th acquitted former Executive Director Shin Mo of ShillaJen, who was indicted for violating the Capital Markets and Financial Investment Business Act, stating, "The facts of the indictment in this case correspond to a situation where the crime is not proven."

Shin was prosecuted on charges of selling 160,000 shares he held for 8.7 billion won after learning in advance the negative evaluation results of the Phase 3 clinical trial targeting liver cancer of the immuno-oncology drug 'Pexa-Vec' developed by ShillaJen, thereby avoiding losses worth approximately 6.4 billion won.

The prosecution understood that Shin learned about the clinical trial results around April 2019 and began selling stocks from June. ShillaJen announced the suspension of the Pexa-Vec clinical trial in August of the same year.

The court explained the reason for the ruling, saying, "It is difficult to consider that undisclosed information predicting negative interim analysis results of Pexa-Vec was generated based solely on documents created in March and April 2019," and "There is also insufficient evidence to recognize that the defendant received such information before its announcement."

It added, "Considering the defendant's duties, financial circumstances, and stock trading patterns from April to August 2019, it is difficult to conclude that he acquired undisclosed information related to the clinical trial results," and "Therefore, it is not proven that he disposed of stocks in advance to avoid losses."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.