Police Conduct Search and Seizure at Shinhan Bank Over Private Equity Fund Redemption Suspension

The police have conducted a search and seizure at the Shinhan Bank headquarters, which is suspected of selling private equity funds improperly.

According to the police on the 9th, the Financial Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency sent investigators around 9:30 a.m. to the Human Resources Group, Asset Management Group, and Investment Product Services Headquarters at Shinhan Bank's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, to secure materials related to the sale of private equity funds.

Shinhan Bank is accused of falsely stating key information about the fund's profit structure in the product prospectus while selling the 'Fidelis Fund' (fraud and fraudulent transactions under the Capital Markets Act) and providing definitive judgments suggesting that 'there is no possibility or an extremely low possibility of principal loss' when recommending investments (unfair solicitation under the Capital Markets Act).

The problematic fund is a product that invests in confirmed accounts receivable from buyers, received by a Singapore trading company called Apis. It was sold by Shinhan Financial Investment from July 2019 to January of the following year.

Earlier, on September 22 last year, the Shinhan Fidelis Fund Victims' Countermeasures Committee filed a complaint and accusation with the Seoul Police Agency against Fidelis Asset Management, the operator of the 'Fidelis Trade Finance Fund,' and Shinhan Bank, the seller, for violations of the Capital Markets Act and fraud.

The police estimate that the total Fidelis funds sold by Shinhan Bank amount to about 180 billion KRW, with approximately 385 investors.

A police official stated, "We will continue the investigation into whether there was collusion between the operator and the seller, and whether there are charges of fraud and violations of the Capital Markets Act, based on the materials secured through the search and seizure."

Meanwhile, a search and seizure of Fidelis Asset Management, the operator, was conducted on the 4th.

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