Kyobo Life Insurance Requests Reinvestigation of Disciplinary Procedures for Anjin Accounting Corporation and Accountants

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] Kyobo Life Insurance announced on the 6th that it has requested the Korean Institute of Certified Public Accountants to conduct a thorough reinvestigation of Deloitte Anjin Accounting Corporation and its affiliated accountants, who are undergoing criminal trials, and to take disciplinary actions commensurate with their illegal activities.

Kyobo Life Insurance submitted a petition to the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in February, immediately after the prosecutors indicted them, demanding an investigation and disciplinary action regarding the 'violation of the Certified Public Accountant Act' by accountants affiliated with Anjin Accounting Corporation. Recently, it has been reported that the Ethics Investigation Committee of the Korean Institute of Certified Public Accountants issued a 'no action' opinion even before the judicial authorities made a ruling.

Kyobo Life Insurance stated, "We believe that procedural flaws and insufficient investigation issues occurred during the petition handling process by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants, so we resubmitted the petition," adding, "Immediately after submitting the petition, the Institute replied that 'if a lawsuit is ongoing in court regarding the related case, complaints cannot be accepted or processed,' and advised us to refile the complaint with supporting documents after the lawsuit concludes."

However, the Institute of Certified Public Accountants did not proceed with any procedures for a long time, and only at the end of August did an individual member of the Ethics Investigation Committee send an unofficial brief inquiry email to the prosecution and Kyobo Life Insurance, subsequently notifying them of 'no action.'

Kyobo Life Insurance also claims that there were problems with the insufficient investigation process. The email evidence submitted by the prosecution to the court amounted to as many as 244 cases. This email evidence reportedly contained circumstances indicating conspiracy between the Affinity Consortium and Deloitte Anjin Accounting Corporation, violating the Certified Public Accountant Act. However, this evidence was not submitted to the Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

At the 7th trial held on the 1st regarding the violation of the Certified Public Accountant Act by the Affinity Consortium officials and accountants affiliated with Deloitte Anjin Accounting Corporation, the prosecutor stated, "The Institute of Certified Public Accountants did not officially request the submission of materials during the disciplinary procedure and conducted the hearing in a very short time, so I believe the grounds for 'no action' are insufficient."

Accordingly, the court accepted the prosecutor's request for a document submission order to the Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

A Kyobo Life Insurance official emphasized, "For the sake of honest certified public accountants, the illegal acts of the accountants affiliated with Anjin Accounting Corporation, who have been brought to criminal trial and whose honor has been tarnished, must be thoroughly investigated," adding, "If illegal acts are found, strict disciplinary actions commensurate with them should be taken."

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