April 24, 2024

• 

[THE INVESTOR] The Korea Fair Trade Commission is reportedly probing allegations of unfair business practices by architectural design house Samoo Architects & Engineers, currently owned by construction firm Samsung C&T.

The local architectural design firm, founded in 1976, took charge of designing offices and buildings for Samsung Group subsidiaries and affiliates, sparking speculation that it was actually owned by Samsung Group.

Before the recent changes in local laws, construction firms could not directly own architectural design houses.

The FTC probed Samoo for allegedly violating the law from 1997 to 1999, but it was cleared of the charge.

The design house was acquired by Samsung C&T in 2014 before the law banning nominee shareholding, which allows a business or individual to own shares through a proxy, was implemented.

Civic groups, such as Solidarity for Economic Reform, recently called for further investigation into Samoo after a high-ranking official from the design company revealed in a media interview last year that it was owned by Samsung from the beginning, and the shareholders were nominees of the conglomerate.

The latest FTC investigation is the first of its kind to target a conglomerate’s subsidiary under the Moon Jae-in administration, which has long pledged to fix unfair business practices by chaebol.

Some market watchers anticipated the watchdog could file a complaint against Samsung’s de facto leader and Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong.

“The allegations (of nominee shareholding) was found to be groundless in the previous FTC probe,” a Samsung C&T spokesperson said.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)