The Korea Herald

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KRX delays lifting trading halt on Osstem Implant

By Choi Si-young

Published : March 29, 2022 - 21:34

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The Osstem Implant headquarters in Seoul. (Yonhap) The Osstem Implant headquarters in Seoul. (Yonhap)
The Korea Exchange said Tuesday that it had decided to postpone its decision on whether to allow Osstem Implant to resume trading, after hours of deliberation that failed to reach consensus on the fate of the company, which had reported insider theft amounting to 221 billion won ($181 million).

The largest dental implant maker in the Asia-Pacific region, which used to trade on the tech-heavy Kosdaq board, reported the theft on Jan. 3 and the KRX suspended trading that day. 

A month later, the bourse operator put the firm under review to decide whether to delist the firm, grant it a one-year grace period to put its financial house in order before resuming trading or lift the trading halt immediately.

The KRX is believed to be considering either the grace period or immediate trading resumption.

“We will reassess the firm’s qualification to continue trading once we review improvement it has made on its internal oversight and corporate governance,” the bourse operator said in a statement. The implant maker recently put together an oversight committee and named independent directors.

The KRX did not say when it would convene the next meeting to deliver a ruling.