South Korea's financial watchdog has cut the combined fine it plans to levy on five banks over the mis-selling of Hong Kong-linked equity products to roughly ₩600 billion ($438 million) — down from the ₩1.4 trillion ($1.0 billion) figure on the table in February and more than 85% below the original estimate. The reduction, decided at a special sanctions review on June 4, sent bank stocks sharply higher the next morning.
KB Financial (105560.KS) traded near ₩172,000, up roughly 4–5%, on the morning of June 5, with Shinhan Financial Group (055550.KS), Woori Financial Group, Hana Financial Group and JB Financial Group also rallying, per Chosun Biz.
What changed, and for whom
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS, Korea's banking regulator) held a temporary sanctions review committee on June 4 and set the combined penalty for KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, NH NongHyup and SC First Bank at about ₩600 billion, the FSS told local media including Aju Business Daily. The case stems from the sale of equity-linked securities (ELS) tied to the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, or H-index, which inflicted heavy losses on Korean retail buyers when the index plunged in early 2024.
The penalty has been pared back repeatedly. The FSS initially calculated around ₩4 trillion ($2.9 billion), cut it to about ₩2 trillion during deliberations, and forwarded a roughly ₩1.4 trillion plan to the Financial Services Commission (FSC, Korea's top financial policymaker) in February, per Chosun Biz and Seoul Economic Daily. The June 4 figure is the lowest yet.
Sizing the relief
The cut is meaningful against the scale of the original sales. The outstanding balance of Korea's H-index ELS reached ₩19.3 trillion ($14.1 billion) as of late 2023, with KB Kookmin the top-selling bank, according to Korea Herald reporting. The banks have separately paid roughly ₩1.3 trillion ($949 million) in voluntary compensation to customers, per Seoul Economic Daily, with consent obtained on 97.2% of accounts — 164,845 of 169,594 — as of end-January 2026, per Financial News citing FSS data submitted to lawmaker Kang Jun-hyeon in March 2026 — a sunk cost that does not change with the fine.
The FSS attributed the latest reduction to lowering its assessment of the banks' violation "motive" and "method" from "medium" to "low," which mechanically reduced the base rate used to size the penalty, Seoul Economic Daily reported. The regulator also excluded sales made in the first six months after Korea's Financial Consumer Protection Act took effect in 2021 and cited near-complete victim compensation — 164,845 of 169,594 affected accounts settled, a 97.2% agreement rate as of end-January 2026, per FSS data.
Precedent: penalties that shrink, then get litigated
Korean mis-selling cases have a history of softening at the margin. In the 2020 derivative-linked fund (DLF) scandal, the FSC fined Woori Bank ₩19.71 billion and Hana Bank ₩16.78 billion and imposed six-month private-fund sales bans, per The Korea Herald, but courts later suspended the FSS's three-year industry ban on Woori's chairman, per The Korea Times (March 2020). That episode underlines that headline sanctions on Korean lenders are frequently reduced or unwound through review and litigation.
The data point that confirms it
The ₩600 billion figure is not final. It must clear an FSC full-committee resolution, which will also determine each bank's individual share, the FSS said via local media. Notably, the FSC in May ordered the FSS to re-examine the legal grounds for the earlier ₩1.4 trillion plan, per Seoul Economic Daily — a reminder that the policy committee can still move the number. The FSC vote is the next event that will confirm or revise the relief the market priced in on June 5.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Figures are sourced from cited Korean and international outlets and remain subject to the FSC's final resolution. USD conversions use an approximate rate of 1 USD = 1,370 KRW.
Sources
- https://biz.chosun.com/stock/stock_general/2026/06/05/27OHKYPO25FH5HQEI5Y7OICX6M/
- https://www.ajunews.com/view/20260604142334299
- https://en.sedaily.com/finance/2026/02/13/korean-banks-face-1b-in-fines-over-hong-kong-els-mis-selling
- https://en.sedaily.com/finance/2026/05/13/koreas-fsc-orders-review-of-14-trillion-won-els-penalty
- https://www.koreaherald.com/article/3297757
- https://en.fnnews.com/news/202603031830237585
- https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/business/banking-finance/20200320/court-accepts-injunction-request-by-woori-financial-head-against-reprimand
- https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200304000750
