Hyundai Motor Co executives are the target of a probe over claims they might have traded stocks using undisclosed information from the firm’s autonomous vehicle talks with Apple.
South Korea’s financial regulator is investigating stock trades made by Hyundai chiefs, a national newspaper reported on Monday. following a review begun in February.
The findings of that review have now been passed on to the country’s Financial Services Commission (FSC).
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Citing an unnamed financial regulatory source, the newspaper said either the FSC or the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) will lead the investigation into alleged insider trading, which could take as long as six months.
Shares of Hyundai jumped 21% between its initial confirmation in early January that it was having talks with Apple, and an announcement on February 8 that the talks were off.
After the initial domestic media report on the possible tie-up with Apple on January 8, a dozen Hyundai executives traded about 3,400 shares, worth about 833 million won ($753,000), according to Reuters calculations based on the company’s regulatory filings.
Hyundai Motor shares were down 1.1% on Monday, while the broader market KOSPI was trading flat.
- Reporting by Reuters
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