The South Korea Superior Court erases the president of Samsung, Lee, in the 2015 merger fraud case
By Joyce Lee and Heekyong Yang
Seoul (Reuters) – The first Tribunal for South Korea has erased the president of Samsung Electronics, Jay Y. Lee, of accounting fraud and the handling of shares on Thursday, definitively removing a long -standing legal risk for the head of the largest company in the country.
The Supreme Court confirmed the decision of a court of appeal rejecting all the accusations in the case involving a merger of $ 8 billion in 2015, releasing Lee to focus on the push of Samsung to catch up in a world race to develop cutting -edge AI fleas.
Last year, a lower court also eliminated Lee from the accusations relating to an agreement between two affiliates of Samsung, Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries, which, according to prosecutors, was designed to cement Lee’s control over the technology giant.
“The decision of the Supreme Court erases a layer of legal uncertainty, which could be positive in the long term for Samsung,” said Ryu Young-Ho, principal analyst at NH Investment & Securities.
“It remains to be seen how much and proactively committed, but if the owner plays a more active role, this could allow management to focus more on long -term initiatives rather than short -term results,” added Ryu.
Samsung Electronics’ actions closed up 3.1%, surpassing an almost flat reference Kospi.
Analysts attributed the increase in the abolition of legal uncertainty surrounding Samsung, as well as investors who passing to the company after Goldman Sachs lowered the local SK Hynix rival, returned its shares to 9.5%.
The Verdict of the Supreme Court was widely expected, but comes at a critical moment for Lee, which faced growing questions about its ability to direct Samsung Electronics – the first memory chip and the world’s smartphones manufacturer.
Samsung lawyers said they were “sincerely grateful” to the Court for its decision and added in a statement that the decision confirmed that the merger was legal.
For almost a decade, Lee faced legal challenges, including those of the merger that paved the way for his succession after his father, Lee Kun-Hee, had a heart attack in 2014 which left him in a coma.
Billionaire previously forgiven
The corporate lobbies groups welcomed the court’s decision, forming it as a stabilizing development for the South Korean economy.
The Federation of Korea companies has said that the decision removes a major legal burden for Samsung and that is at a time of intensification of global competition in high-tech industries such as AI and semiconductors as well as the economic pressure of American trade tariffs.
“The role of Samsung as a large South Korean company is more critical than ever,” the group said in a statement.
