Financial regulators pledged Sunday that they would take stern punitive measures against unidentified whistle-blowers at KB Financial Group, who leaked reportedly “skewed” insider information.

One or more ranking figures of KB Financial have been suspected of spreading groundless allegations involving the financial group’s M&A strategies, said an official of the Financial Supervisory Service.

A key unverified allegation is that “the financial group had to scrap its takeover bid for the Korean insurance unit of Holland-based ING Group, due to opposition from three KB outside directors, dispatched by financial authorities.”

However, one of the three directors voted for the ING Life Korea acquisition bid and another was appointed to the post after it gave up on its M&A bid, according to the FSS and KB Financial.

As the allegations were recently quoted by the Institutional Shareholder Services Inc., a global provider of corporate governance solutions, the three directors have been under pressure to resign.

ISS, which has analysis channels in North America, Europe and Asia, indirectly suggested KB Financial’s main shareholders oust the three figures via the report.

In December 2012, KB Financial Group dropped its bid to buy ING’s Korean life insurance unit after meeting strong opposition from its board. The decision put a damper on KB Financial Group’s ambition of strengthening its nonbanking portfolio.

At a temporary meeting, the board of KB Financial rejected a plan to buy the ING unit.

Among the 12-member board of directors, five voted in support of the takeover deal, another five opposed and two abstained. The proposal needed the support of seven board members to pass.

Its attempt to take over ING’s unit had been the core task spearheaded by KB Financial chairman Euh Yoon-Dae.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)