November 22, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] South Korea's top financial regulator on Jan. 5 referred a senior executive at NCsoft Corp., the operator of Internet-based fantasy game “Lineage,” to prosecutors on suspicion of insider trading.

Bae Jae-hyun, vice president of NCsoft, is suspected of selling 8,000 shares of his stake in NCsoft in June of last year, before the company’s stock plunged. 

The Financial Services Commission launched an investigation into Bae on June 21 last year, looking into whether he sold his NCsoft shares after learning undisclosed information about the company.

Shares of NCsoft took a dive of 11.41 percent on June 20 amid speculation that the company would unveil “Lineage M” -- the mobile version of its megahit game “Lineage” -- without an exchange function that would allow users to buy or sell game items.

NCsoft has said Bae sold the stock to raise money needed to exercise some of his stock options.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)