Law Permits Trusstone Asset Management to Access Minutes of BYC Board Meetings

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Junho] The court has accepted the request by Truston Asset Management (Truston), the second largest shareholder of BYC, to permit the inspection and copying of BYC’s board meeting minutes.

According to the financial investment industry on the 18th, the Seoul Southern District Court on the 16th fully approved Truston’s application to inspect and copy the board meeting minutes related to transactions between BYC and the company’s major shareholder family or affiliated special relationship companies from 2016 until May of this year.

Truston plans to visit BYC headquarters soon to review the board meeting minutes and closely examine whether the transactions followed proper legal procedures under the Commercial Act, including board resolutions. If various suspicions related to internal transactions are confirmed as true, Truston will proceed with legal actions such as requesting access to accounting books, shareholder derivative lawsuits, and holding management accountable.

Truston stated, "We have been investing in BYC shares since October 2020 and have engaged in unofficial discussions with the company’s management for over a year to improve corporate governance, but have not achieved satisfactory results. Accordingly, after changing our investment purpose to management participation on December 23 last year, we have continued shareholder activities such as sending shareholder letters." In April, Truston exercised its right to request inspection of BYC’s board meeting minutes. However, BYC refused without special reasons, leading Truston to submit an application to the court in May to permit inspection and copying of the board meeting minutes.

Truston added, "To investigate suspicions that BYC’s corporate value is being damaged due to internal transactions with special relationship companies in which the major shareholder family holds shares, and to verify whether BYC’s internal transactions followed proper legal procedures under the Commercial Act, it is essential to inspect and copy the board meeting minutes."

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