The Korea Economic Daily reported that the merger between Naver Financial and Dunamu has encountered issues with major shareholder eligibility. With the revised Special Act, which strengthens the review of major shareholders of virtual asset businesses, set to take effect on August 20, major shareholders and executives will be barred from operating if they have a history of receiving penalties equivalent to or greater than a fine under laws such as the Fair Trade Act, the Virtual Asset User Protection Act, and the Capital Markets Act. Naver Financial and Dunamu submitted their merger approval application to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) in late November last year and are currently undergoing review. As the FTC's review prolonged, Naver Financial and Dunamu postponed the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders for a comprehensive stock exchange from May 22 to August 18, just before the Special Act's enforcement, a delay of about three months. Separate from the FTC's review, the financial authorities' major shareholder eligibility review process remains. Given that Naver was fined 200 million won by the court in September last year for violating the Fair Trade Act, this related information is expected to act as an obstacle in the review.
