15 South Korean Financial Firms Fined $1.2 Billion for Collusion in Bond Auctions

South Korea's antitrust regulator has imposed fines totaling approximately $1.21 billion on 15 financial institutions for collusion in government bond auctions. The Korea Fair Trade Commission fined five banks and ten securities companies a total of 1.627 trillion won. The investigation revealed that these primary dealers of government bonds colluded in 145 bond auctions between January 2020 and June 2023 by sharing information or coordinating bid yields and volumes, which suppressed yields and severely undermined the competitive bidding system. The commission will file charges against seven financial institutions that participated in collusion for a longer duration and with higher frequency, including KB Securities, NH Investment & Securities, and Mirae Asset Securities, which are also among the highest fined institutions in this case.

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