The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) is set to hold a key audit committee meeting on Thursday to review the results of a months-long investigation into the company’s accounting practices. A preliminary hearing held last week ended without a decision.
Regulators have already recommended criminal prosecution, the dismissal of former executives, and fines amounting to billions of won after concluding that SK Ecoplant intentionally violated accounting standards.
According to the FSS, SK Ecoplant overstated revenues at its U.S.-based fuel cell subsidiary in 2022 and 2023, thereby generating misleading consolidated financial statements that were presented to both investors and oversight authorities.
Investigators believe the alleged misconduct was driven by the company’s effort to inflate its corporate value ahead of a promised IPO. In 2022, SK Ecoplant secured roughly 1 trillion won, or $720 million, in pre-IPO funding on the condition that it would go public by 2026.
The case comes amid a broader regulatory crackdown on financial misconduct.
Recently, authorities have referred several high-profile corporate figures — including HYBE founder Bang Si-hyuk and former executives of Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance — to prosecutors. The Securities and Futures Commission has warned of “devastating” penalties for executives found guilty of intentional accounting fraud.
If the committee endorses the FSS’s recommendations, the SK Ecoplant case could be referred for criminal prosecution, potentially derailing SK Group’s IPO timeline for SK Ecoplant and delivering a setback to the conglomerate’s expansion in the energy sector.
reporter
Kim Dong-young
davekim0807@ajupress.com
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