Starting in May, the number of listed companies required to file disclosures in English will jump to 265 from 111. Disclosure items will expand and some deadlines will be shortened. To raise the KOSPI market’s international standing, South Korea will also move up the start of mandatory English disclosures for all KOSPI-listed companies to next March, more than a year earlier than planned.
The Financial Services Commission said it approved revisions to the “Regulations on Issuance and Disclosure of Securities” and the Korea Exchange’s disclosure rules for the KOSPI, KOSDAQ and KONEX markets at a regular meeting on Tuesday.
Under the revisions, companies subject to mandatory English disclosures will increase from 111 in the current first phase to 265 in the second phase. The first phase, introduced in 2024, applied to listed companies with assets of at least 10 trillion won and foreign ownership of at least 5%, or assets of at least 2 trillion won and foreign ownership of at least 30%. From May, the second phase will cover all KOSPI-listed companies with assets of at least 2 trillion won.
The list of items that must be disclosed in English will also grow. In addition to shareholder meeting results, companies must file in English all 55 categories of major management matters related to business and investment activities, as well as fair disclosures and inquiry disclosures.
For KOSPI-listed companies with assets of at least 10 trillion won, the deadline will be shortened from “within three business days after filing the Korean-language disclosure” to, in principle, same-day disclosure.
The third phase, which makes English disclosures mandatory for all KOSPI-listed companies, will begin next March instead of May 2028. That would expand the coverage to 848 companies.
The commission said the move reflects “the KOSPI market’s status as South Korea’s flagship market and strong interest from global investors.”
Starting in March, companies will also be required to disclose shareholder vote tallies. Until now, they disclosed only whether each agenda item passed. Under the revisions, companies must disclose, on the day of the meeting, the voting results for each item, including the percentages for votes in favor, against and abstentions. In regular filings such as annual reports, they must provide not only percentages but also the number of shares.
Executive compensation disclosures will also become more detailed starting in May, after criticism that current disclosures do not clearly show the link between company performance and pay and make it hard to understand how compensation is calculated.
Companies will add total shareholder return and operating profit for the past three years to executive pay disclosures. They must also provide specific reasons and calculation standards for each component of compensation.
Because stock-based compensation for executives has been disclosed separately from pay, it has been difficult to gauge total compensation. Going forward, companies must disclose restricted stock and other stock-based awards together with total executive compensation and detailed, individual compensation information. They must also include the cash-equivalent value of unrealized stock-based compensation.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.