Seoul, April 29 (IANS) South Korea’s antitrust regulator on Wednesday newly designated Kim Bom, founder of US-listed e-commerce giant Coupang, as the company’s de facto controlling entity, placing him under stricter regulatory oversight.Kim, a U.S. citizen who also serves as chairman of the board, was designated as the “same person” of the group, a legal term referring to the individual who effectively controls a conglomerate, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said.The FTC’s decision comes as Coup…
Latest Fair Trade Commission News & Updates
Seoul, April 27 (IANS) South Korea’s antitrust regulator on Monday ordered changes to unfair terms used by seven major e-commerce platforms, aiming to better protect consumer rights.The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said it reviewed user agreements and identified 11 types of unfair clauses across four main categories used by platforms operated by Coupang Inc., Naver Corp., Kurly Corp., SSG.com, Gmarket, 11Street and Nol Universe Co, reports Yonhap news agency.The companies agreed to revise the ter…
Seoul, April 22 (IANS) The antitrust regulator here said on Wednesday it has decided to fine two local suppliers to Hyundai Motor and Kia, a combined 2.59 billion won ($1.75 million) for colluding to rig bids.SM Hwajin and Cubic Korea prearranged winners and bid prices in five tenders conducted between September 2020 and April 2023 to select contractors for surface treatment of vehicle interior materials, according to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC).The two companies were the only registered bid…
Seoul, March 13 (IANS) The antitrust regulator is looking into suspected price-rigging collusion cases involving gas stations in southern regions amid volatile energy prices stemming from ongoing turmoil in the Middle East, officials said on Friday.Ju Biung-ghi, chairman of the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), made the remark at a meeting of a special government task force of ministers overseeing market prices the previous day, according to FTC officials, reports Yonhap news agency.He said several g…
Seoul, March 6 (IANS) The antitrust regulator said on Friday it has begun reviewing possible penalties for four companies that allegedly colluded to set prices of sweeteners for more than seven years.Inspectors at the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) have wrapped up their six-month probe into the case and concluded that the companies formed a cartel to fix prices of starch sugar products from May 2018 to October 2025, according to FTC officials.The companies are Daesang, SajoCPK, Samyang and CJ Cheil…
Seoul, Feb 26 (IANS) South Korea’s antitrust regulator said on Thursday it has imposed a fine of 2.19 billion won ($1.54 million) on e-commerce giant Coupang for pressuring suppliers to lower prices and cover advertising costs to meet its target profit margins.Coupang was also found to have delayed payments to suppliers and failed to pay late interest, violating the Act on Fair Transactions In Large Retail Businesses, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said.The FTC issued corrective orders to addre…
Seoul, Jan 26 (IANS) South Korea’s antitrust watchdog said on Monday that it has decided to block a Singapore-based private equity fund (PEF) from acquiring the country’s largest vehicle rental company, citing concerns that the deal would significantly restrict market competition.Careena Transportation Group Ltd., controlled by private equity firm Affinity Equity Partners, has been barred from buying a 63.5 percent stake in Lotte Rental Co., the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said, noting that Affi…
Seoul, Jan 21 (IANS) The antitrust regulator here said on Wednesday that it has imposed a combined fine of 272 billion won ($183.7 million) on the country’s four major commercial banks for allegedly colluding on real estate lending limits tied to loan-to-value (LTV) ratios.The banks — Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank, Hana Bank and KB Kookmin Bank — are accused of exchanging internal documents related to LTV ratios and coordinating their lending limits, a practice that restricted competition in the mo…
Seoul, Jan 14 (IANS) South Korea’s data protection watchdog on Wednesday urged online retailer Coupang to take down its independent probe results into a massive data leak from its mobile application and website, describing them as unverified information.The Personal Information Protection Commission took issue with the company’s notice that claims a former employee breached the personal information of 33 million users but saved data from only about 3,000 accounts, which Coupang claimed was later…
Seoul, Jan 12 (IANS) Ordering a temporary suspension of business operations at e-commerce giant Coupang may be possible, the head of South Korea’s antitrust watchdog said on Monday, amid an ongoing investigation over a recent large-scale data breach at the US-listed company.”If an order is not implemented or if it is deemed insufficient to provide relief to affected consumers, a business suspension is also possible,” Ju Byung-gi, chairman of the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), said in a radio inter…