By Kang Yoon-seung

SEOUL, Aug. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's fair trade watchdog on Tuesday vowed to impose fines on conglomerate heads when their business groups omit affiliates from regulatory filings to avoid antitrust rules.

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) unveiled the plan in a report submitted for a policy briefing to President Lee Jae Myung earlier in the day, along with other policy initiatives, including measures to tackle price rigging.

Under the plan, heads of business groups could face fines of up to 10 percent of the larger of the combined assets or average annual sales of the omitted affiliates.

The move comes as the current Fair Trade Act only allows imprisonment of up to two years or a fine of up to 150 million won (US$104,000) for filing false reports, with the FTC believing such criminal penalties are insufficient to deter violations.

The FTC additionally vowed to impose tougher penalties on businesses engaging in price rigging that aims to help stabilize the livelihoods of ordinary people.

"The agency plans to focus on investigating price-fixing activities in the chemical, paint and petrochemical industries, and establish dedicated teams for major cases to promptly carry out investigations and corrective measures," the FTC said.

The watchdog added that it will seek to revise the Fair Trade Act to root out recurring price-rigging activities, including the revoking of business registrations or the suspension of operations for repeat offenders.

It also plans to extend the statute of limitations for cartel violations to 15 years from the current 12 years.

colin@yna.co.kr

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