Hanyang Securities warned for unfair trading

The nation’s main bourse on Thursday issued a warning to Hanyang Securities for engaging in irregular trading of financial derivatives products.

The brokerage unit of Hanyang University sought to hamper other investors’ profits through the trading of KOSPI200 option products by issuing an excessive amount of “sell” orders at a certain price, according to the Korea Exchange.

Exchange officials said the biggest victims in the aftermath of the firms’ practice were small investors. As Hanyang took a large proportion of products, the other market participants ― individuals particularly ― ended up with smaller portions of the pie.

“Such a tricky practice by listed companies deteriorates fair market competition. We will not tolerate this sort of trading undermining retail investors,” said an official.

“We will demand stricter inner control over the management system, and impose stronger sanctions on our listed members who neglect them,” he said.

Hanyang Securities was established in 1956 as a subsidiary of Hanyang University, a private institution located in northeast Seoul. Transparency and excellent corporate governance are two of the brokerage’s five management principles.

(joowonc@heraldcorp.com)