[THE INVESTOR] The number of companies belonging to large corporate groups increased by 11 to come in at 1,770 in June, the Fair Trade Commission said on July 1.

According to the FTC, a total of 20 companies were newly added to large groups and nine were removed, resulting in a net change of 11. 


Under current regulations, a corporate group with assets exceeding 5 trillion won (US$ 4.4 billion) are defined as being large and are strictly regulated. The number of groups affected by the regulation stands at 65, but will fall significant after the standard is raised to 10 trillion won within the year.

Groups included in the category are subject to a number of limitations including that regarding cross shareholding and providing debt guarantees among affiliates.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)