The dynamic nature of the capital markets in Korea, especially since the enactment of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act, demands constant awareness of evolution in the regulatory and operational frameworks in which financial and non-financial companies operate. As a leading legal advisor in this field, Lee & Ko is constantly updating and developing its expertise, especially in respect of new financial products and the latest operational guidelines, in order to stay on top of the most recent market and legal developments and to ensure that our clients benefit from the most reliable and up-to-date advice available.

Lee & Ko advises both listed non-financial companies and various types of financial institutions, ranging from banks, securities companies, futures brokerages, investment management companies, investment advisory companies to discretionary investment companies. We provide legal services on a full spectrum of issues, including the following core areas.

Expertise

Compliance and Internal Control

We advise our clients on capital markets laws, regulations and official guidelines relevant to a variety of financial transactions to ensure that their execution could be safely and effectively carried out within the most up-to-date legal framework. In addition, we advise our clients on their day-to-day business operations by helping them assess and improve their internal regulatory compliance controls and assisting them with regulatory filings and public disclosures. In many cases, our clients have found it essential to have a prior consultation with us before structuring a financial transaction or setting up an internal compliance system to minimize any unnecessary cost, complexity and delay.

Financial Investment Business Licenses

We advise our clients on their applications for financial investment business license and/or permits necessary to conduct their businesses. Our extensive experience in preparing such applications have helped us to be efficient in pinpointing which set of information and actions would be necessary for any given client to obtain the license and/or permit it desires.

Investigation and Administrative Action by the Financial Supervisory Service

We advise our clients when they become the subject of investigation and/or sanction by the Financial Services Commission and/or the Financial Supervisory Service. To be more specific, we advise financial companies in respect of the periodic audits by the FSS, securities issuers and investors in regard to commission of insider trading, failure to make disclosures and other violations under the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act and accounting firms in regard to accounting frauds by their clients. We maintain constant contact with the FSS and related regulatory entities to exchange information, represent our clients and, sometimes, advise them as our clients. Thus, we have extensive knowledge of how they conduct their operations and what their defining characteristics are. This knowledge allowed us help our clients, in many cases, to resolve administrative actions and related disputes in the most efficient way possible.

In addition to our high level of legal expertise, we draw upon the expertise of the firms advisory members, including former governmental officials, accountants and tax specialists, to ensure that our clients receive the most comprehensive advice possible.