Foreigners Can Also Be Designated as Heads of Large Corporations... Fair Trade Commission to Promote Enforcement Decree Revision

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) is pushing to amend the Enforcement Decree of the Fair Trade Act to allow foreigners to be designated as the head (identical person) of large business groups.

According to the FTC on the 24th, it plans to announce the amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Fair Trade Act, which includes improvements related to the designation of the identical person, for public comment next month. The FTC is expected to include in the amendment criteria the designation of Korean nationals with foreign citizenship as identical persons.

Last year, the FTC designated Coupang as a large business group, but did not designate Kim Beom-seok, the chairman of Coupang’s board of directors who holds U.S. citizenship, as the identical person, making Coupang a "business group without a head."

The FTC stated that it had never designated a foreigner as an identical person and that it was difficult to impose criminal sanctions even if a foreigner was designated as the head, which led to this decision, but it has announced plans to improve the system.

After conducting research and other procedures, the FTC has decided to proceed with the amendment of the Enforcement Decree. Accordingly, the possibility has increased that Kim Beom-seok, chairman of Coupang Inc., a U.S.-listed company that holds 100% of the shares of Coupang Korea, will be designated as Coupang’s identical person.

The FTC also plans to include in the amendment a proposal to reduce the scope of relatives subject to regulation: from the 6th degree to the 4th degree for blood relatives, and from the 4th degree to the 3rd degree for relatives by marriage.

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