Mandatory Lock-up Release Shares Surpass 3.3 Billion... 11.6% Increase Year-on-Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] The number of shares with "mandatory retention registration" lifted exceeded 3.3 billion last year. This represents an 11.6% increase compared to the previous year.

According to the Korea Securities Depository (KSD) on the 7th, the number of shares released from mandatory retention registration due to expiration of the retention period in 2021 was 3,341.32 million shares, an 11.6% increase from the previous year.

Mandatory retention registration refers to the electronic registration that restricts the disposal of shares owned by major shareholders for a certain period at the KSD in accordance with relevant laws. It was established to protect general investors from sharp stock price drops caused by the disposal of shares by major shareholders.

By market, the number of shares released from mandatory retention registration in the KOSPI market was 1,199.35 million shares, a 27.2% increase from the previous year, while the KOSDAQ market saw 2,141.98 million shares released, a 4.4% increase during the same period.

Looking at the monthly volume of shares released from mandatory retention registration, May recorded the highest at 430 million shares (12.9%), while July had the lowest at 133.65 million shares (4.0%).

The number of listed companies with shares released from mandatory retention registration last year was 441, a 5.5% increase from 418 companies the previous year. The number of KOSPI-listed companies was 71, up 1.4% from 70 the previous year, and KOSDAQ-listed companies increased by 6.3% to 370 from 348.

Among companies, the top five in terms of volume of shares released from mandatory retention registration in the KOSPI market were Industrial Bank of Korea (161.51 million shares), followed by ESR Kendall Square Trust Management Real Estate Investment Company (71.8 million shares), JR Global Trust Management Real Estate Investment Company (68.6 million shares), SK IE Technology (62.74 million shares), and SK Bioscience (60 million shares).

In the KOSDAQ market, the top five were KTBNetwork (80 million shares), TSTrillion (72.68 million shares), CNT85 (61.09 million shares), Hanp (54 million shares), and Korea Center (50.1 million shares).

Meanwhile, the number of listed shares under mandatory retention registration at the KSD last year was 4,164.16 million shares, a 36.2% increase from the previous year. The number of KOSPI-listed companies was 62, up 19.2% from 52 the previous year, and KOSDAQ-listed companies increased by 15.8% to 308 from 266.

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