Unfair stock trades rise 6.5 pct in H1

SEOUL, July 12 (Yonhap) -- Unfair stock trading cases in South Korea increased 6.5 percent in the first half from a year earlier, with most of them on the secondary bourse, the financial watchdog said Tuesday.
   The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said it had detected 98 unfair stock trades in the January-June period, up from 92 in the same period last year. Of the total, 72 cases were turned over to the prosecution.
   Unfair stock market trading cases include the use of undisclosed information, false regulatory filings and stock price manipulation.
   Of the irregular trades referred to the prosecution, 14 cases involved the main bourse, with 54 committed on the tech-heavy secondary market.
   There were four cases of irregularities involving the derivatives market in the six-month period, compared with three a year earlier, the FSS said.
   South Korea has been stepping up efforts to tackle unfair stock trading, especially false regulatory filings by firms listed on the secondary market. In June, the local bourse operator vowed to tighten supervision on resource developers that are traded on the KOSDAQ.
   The move came after the head of a resource development firm manipulated stock prices and pocketed profits worth 69.1 billion won (US$64.8) by spreading false information on a development project. The firm was delisted.