iShares MSCI South Korea Index (EWY), the South Korean-focused exchange traded fund (ETF), may fall victim to allegation of bribery at Samsung. A broad coalition of liberal lawmakers are calling on individual counsel to investigate snowballing allegations of bribery at Samsung Group, Asia’s electronic giant. Samsung Group is being accused of using slush fund money to bribe prosecutors, judges, government officials and journalists, according to the Associated Press.
Samsung has fully denied any claims. This investigation is followed by the filing of a criminal lawsuit last week by two civic groups against three top Samsung executives. For decades, South Korean conglomerates have been accused of dubious dealings between subsidiaries and affiliates to help controlling families evade taxes and secretly transfer wealth through a complex ownership structure.
EWY is up 41.1% year-to-date and Samsung Electronics is a top holding at 11.8%.
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