The head of the Financial Services Commission(FSC) has announced plans to significantly raise the cap on rewards for those who report insider trading or market manipulation to the authorities.

Speaking at the "KOSPI 5000 and Beyond Seminar" held at the Korea Exchange in Yeouido, Seoul, on Tuesday, FSC Chairman Lee Eok-won said in addition to an increase in the upper limit reward amount, efforts will be made to introduce a standard under which whistleblowers can receive a percentage of collected monetary sanctions.
 
"We will actively work with relevant ministries to dramatically expand reward payments in proportion to the illicit gains," Lee said.
 
The FSC is reviewing a fundamental overhaul of the entire reward system for reporting unfair trading and related financial fraud in an effort to  strengthen market integrity by incentivizing, compensating and protecting individuals who expose hidden misconduct.

Under the current system, the calculation for rewards for informants is not only complicated, it is capped at just three billion won, or roughly two-point-one million U.S. dollars, even for tips on stock manipulation worth hundreds of billions of won.

Last month, KBS reported in-depth on the country’s market manipulation reporting reward system, spotlighting insufficiencies in the program with regard to encouraging whistleblowers due to its small budget and low payouts.
 
Last year’s reward budget of 200 million won ran out by September, with the amount of unpaid awards to informants due to budget issues reaching around 230 million won.

President Lee Jae Myung shared the KBS report in a social media post on Saturday with a message calling for the introduction of a “bold reporting reward system.”