REVISED PLAN OF SHORT SALE BAN

[Anchor Lead]

Korea’s controversial short sale ban in the stock market is to end on March 15th. This method of selling someone else’s stock and returning the same number of shares later is accused of spurring a fall in stock prices. An increasing number of people demand that the ban should be extended since this type of transaction is unfair to private investors. The government has come up with a revised plan.

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Park Hyeok has been investing in the stock market for nearly 10 years. He made quite a profit last year and claims that the government’s short sale ban played a big role in his success.

[Soundbite] PARK HYEOK(PRIVATE INVESTOR) : "Individuals should be allowed to short sell for an even playing field, but it's mostly for foreigners. It should be abolished."

The Financial Services Commission came up with two big changes to address individual investors’ complaints. A certain portion of shares will be set aside for private investors to make it easier for them to short sell. Also, a seperate channel where cusomters can borrow securities will be provided. Punishment will be also toughened for illegal short selling and a monitoring system will be strengthened to uncover illegal transactions.

[Soundbite] HWANG SEI-WOON(KOREA CAPITAL MARKET INSTITUTE) : "A rational decision would be providing institutional support to address the criticism of ‘the uneven playing field’ while lifting the ban on short selling."

However, FSC Chairman Eun Sung-soo remained cautious, saying he cannot make definite statements. Individual investors continue to protest strongly against short selling and politicians continue to debate whether the ban should be lifted or extended.

[Soundbite] JUNG EUI-JEONG(HEAD, KOREA STOCKHOLDERS ALLIANCE) : "Cases of individual investor loss should be studied to determine whether short selling is necessary in Korea."

The decision on the short sale ban is expected to be made sometime next month. Korea is the only OECD country to officially ban short selling.