The past 12 months have seen a number of amendments to key laws
and regulations in Korea affecting trade, mergers and acquisitions,
pensions and investments in real estate.
Takeovers
The first change saw Korea's National Assembly begin the year by
passing several amendments to the Securities and Exchange Law,
which became effective on March 29 2005. These amendments relate to
tender offer rules and shareholding disclosure rules (the 5%
reporting rule) and are aimed at strengthening precautionary
measures against hostile M&A.
The amendments to tender offer rules remove the restrictions
prohibiting an investor from making multiple tender offers within a
six-month period as well as restrictions preventing a company that
is subject to a tender offer from issuing voting stocks and other
equity-linked debt securities during the tender offer period.
The amendments to the 5% reporting rule strengthen the
disclosure obligation of investors by: (i) requiring an investor to
disclose...