Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eok-won: 'Reviewing Fine-Tuning' of Delisting Standards for Profitable 'Penny Stocks'

Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eok-won stated today (the 24th) that he will "review areas for fine-tuning" in response to criticisms that applying the new KOSDAQ delisting policy could lead to the delisting of profitable companies simply because they are penny stocks.

Chairman Lee made the remark during a plenary session of the National Assembly's National Policy Committee this afternoon, in response to a related question from Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Hyun-jung.

Regarding the intent behind the implementation of the system, Chairman Lee explained, "To restructure and normalize the KOSDAQ market, the focus must first be on troubled companies."

However, he added, "Considering policy credibility, a comprehensive policy change is not easy."

The revised listing regulations designate a company as an administrative issue if its stock price remains below 1,000 won for 30 consecutive trading days or falls below market capitalization criteria. If the company fails to exceed the standard for "45 consecutive trading days" or more out of the subsequent 90 trading days, it is subject to final delisting.

However, because market capitalization is used as a primary criterion for delisting, a problem has arisen where numerous listed companies facing the risk of delisting fail to meet the market cap criteria despite generating profits.

Meanwhile, regarding instances where some applicants mistakenly terminated their existing Youth Leap Accounts due to errors during the application guidance process for the recent Youth Future Savings, he stated, "We will restore them to the enrolled status (for those who wish to do so)."

Regarding the error itself, he promised, "We have nothing to excuse, and we will take thorough measures to ensure it does not happen again."

As for the timing of submitting the government bill for the Digital Asset Basic Act, he explained, "We are preparing and will accelerate consultations in earnest."

In response to a question from Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Kang-il asking, "Can we legislate in the autumn?", he replied, "We will make every possible effort."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.