SEOUL, Jan 31 (Reuters) - South Korea's financial
regulator said it would seek to change dividend payment
practices of listed companies, to enable investors to find how
much they would be paid before making investment decisions.
The Financial Services Commission said in a statement that
revisions to related laws and guidelines covering the dividend
payment process would help bring the local stock market closer
to global standards. The proposed changes are part of a broader
push by South Korea to make its stock market more attractive for
foreign investors.
Currently in South Korea, most companies finalise their
lists of shareholders entitled to annual dividends at the end of
each year, before deciding on their payout amounts at
shareholders' meetings held in the following spring.
The regulator aims to reverse that order, by encouraging
companies to set dividend amounts before closing shareholder
books. It expects that this would also persuade companies to
offer bigger dividends.
The Commission plans to complete all the necessary steps,
including revision of the Capital Markets Act, so that listed
companies can adopt the new dividend procedure in time for the
annual dividends for 2023, according to the statement.
(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
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