South Korean regulator the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has asked prosecutors to investigate alleged capital markets rules violations by Australian hedge fund firm Regal Funds Management, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The report cites unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter in revealing that the case remains open after the regulator made the referral in December.
According to a regulatory filing made on 16 April, Regal is appealing a KRW313m penalty imposed by South Korea’s financial authorities for alleged breaches of the securities law in connection with trades made by a former employee.
The SFC has increased its scrutiny of banks and hedge funds as part of efforts to clamp down on illegal short-selling, with the country’s financial authorities this week revealing that they had uncovered an alleged KRW211.2bn ($155m) of illegal short trades by nine global investment banks.
