YOON&YANG

Sung Bin Jhung Partner

TEL 82 2 6182 8507
FAX 82 2 6003 7036
E-MAIL sbjhung@yoonyang.com

Sung Bin Jhung is a partner at Yoon & Yang LLC, and his main practice areas are finance, capital market, securities, and AML.
Mr. Jhung possesses the industry’s leading expertise in handling the compliance regulations related to the Korea Exchange (KRX), such as delisting and assessment review for listing eligibility, IPO, dishonest disclosures, and mandatory holding period (lock-up). Based on 10-plus years of experience accumulated while advising clients (i.e., more than 100 companies in total) on delisting (substantive review) in the domestic capital market for various sectors (i.e., manufacturing, bio, service, and IT), including the reasons for delisting (i.e., embezzlement & breach of trust, violation of accounting standards, audit opinion, change in management right, and dishonest disclosure), Mr. Jhung’s strength lies in enabling client companies to remain listed and to resume trading.

As a qualified IPO professional consultant, he has provided IPO-related advice to companies preparing for listing in each market, including the NASDAQ, KOSPI, and KOSDAQ. In particular, he was recognized as the “Leading Advisory Lawyer” at the 6th Korea Legal Awards, thereby further cementing his credibility and expertise in his practice areas.

Mr. Jhung performs a key role in the supervision and inspection of anti-money laundering efforts of financial companies. Since the initial stage when the financial regulatory body implemented anti-money laundering (AML) regulations, Mr. Jhung has advised major Korean financial companies (i.e., commercial banks and securities firms) related to AML issues as well as inspections and sanctions by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). Based on obtaining license as a certified anti-money laundering specialist (ACAMS), he is capable of providing legal advice from a practical and industry standpoint, such as accurately identifying industry’s latest trends, and is also broadening advisory service to the digital finance industry (i.e., virtual asset and electronic finance business operators).

After studying law in Korea and the US, Mr. Jhung passed the attorney qualification exam to practice law in Korea and the bar exam to practice law in the State of New York. He has worked at major US law firms, such as Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP’s Atlanta office, and is using the experience accumulated to represent foreign entities in matters regarding general corporate law, M&A, investment and offshore fund.

Experience

2015-present Yoon & Yang LLC
2022 Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

Education

2021 Duke University School of Law, LL.M.
2015 Sogang University School of Law, J.D.
2010 Korea University, B.A. in Chinese Literature and Language

Representative Matters

[Response to KRX delisting and substantive review of listing eligibility]

Company A listed on KOSPI: Resolving capital impairment → Exclusion from substantive review
Company B listed on KOSPI: Decision on closure of rehabilitation process → Remain listed after being granted period for improvement
Company C listed on KOSPI: Window dressing, embezzlement & breach of trust → Exclusion from substantive review
Company D listed on KODAQ: Large-scale impairment loss and change of major shareholder → Remain listed after being granted period for improvement
Company E listed on KOSDAQ: Embezzlement & breach of trust → Exclusion from substantive review
Company F listed on KOSDAQ: Change of major shareholder among the supervised list of stocks → Remain listed after being granted period for improvement
Handled substantive review of eligibility for listing for various sectors (i.e., electronics, electrical, automobile, IT, bio, healthcare, finance, and entertainment)

[Initial public offering (IPO) on KRX]

Listing on NASDAQ: Advised on merger between GLAAM and Jaguar Global Growth Corporation I; advised GLAAM on NASDAQ listing
Listing on KOSPI: Advised a domestic e-commerce company (market cap: approx. trillions in Korean Won) on KOSPI listing; advised a generation facility company on KOSPI listing with a large-size Korean securities firm participating as an underwriter
Listing on KOSDAQ: Advised a domestic AI company (market cap: approx. KRW 2 trillion) on KOSDAQ listing; advised a domestic chemical company (market cap: approx. KRW 400 billion) on KOSDAQ listing
Listing of foreign entity on Korean stock market: Advised Wing Yip Food (China) Holdings Group Limited on KOSDAQ listing; advised various overseas bio & healthcare companies on KOSDAQ listing
Listing of SPAC via merger: Advised on listing of a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) via merger by a securities firm
Advised on issues related to watching period prior to listing or regular internal control inspection of a newly-listed company
Advised a non-listed startup on series investment and pre-IPO investment

[Response to KRX regulations on dishonest disclosure and mandatory holding (lock-up)]

Company A listed on KOSDAQ: Explication on event equivalent to a force majeure → Exemption from found to have engaged in dishonest disclosure
Companies B & C listed on KOSDAQ: Explication on a single act causing numerous disclosure breaches → Addressing grounds for substantive review of eligibility for listing due to deduction of penalty points
Companies D, E & F listed on KOSDAQ: Review of fair disclosure to estimate earnings and criteria for determination of timely disclosure
Companies G & H listed on KOSDAQ: Review of duty of disclosure related to M&A
Companies I & J listed on KOSDAQ: Response to KRX’s exceptional application of mandatory holding period
Companies K, L & M listed on KOSDAQ: Response to KRX’s determination as to violation of mandatory holding period

[FIU’s anti-money laundering (AML)]

Represented commercial banks in responding to inspections by the FSS and FIU
Represented large financial companies in responding to sanctions by the FSS and penalty charges imposed by the FIU
Handled independent audit on AML of a foreign bank’s branch
Handled independent audit on AML for electronic finance companies and advised them on AML regulations
Handled independent audit on AML for virtual asset companies and advised them on AML regulations
Advised foreign banks on Korea’s AML laws and developed countermeasures

[Response to FSS’s supervision and inspection of financial companies]

Advised a commercial bank on responding to inspections and sanctions by the FSS
Advised a securities firm on responding to inspections and sanctions by the FSS
Advised an asset manager on responding to inspections and sanctions by the FSS
Advised a credit rating firm on responding to inspections and sanctions by the FSS
Advised a savings bank on responding to inspections and sanctions by the FSS

Awards

Advisory Category, Korea Legal Award, Money Today (2023)

Publications

Korea Chapter, Anti-Money Laundering, Lexology Panoramic, Law Business Research (Co-author, 2024)
Korea Chapter, Anti-Money Laundering, Lexology Getting the Deal Through, Law Business Research (Co-author, 2023)