Regulators probe Mirae Asset over SpaceX IPO share allocation failure

Mirae Asset Securities faces scrutiny from South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) over its handling of domestic investors' subscriptions for the SpaceX IPO. The firm had actively promoted the opportunity, even collecting subscription funds, only to inform investors that no shares could be allocated.

The FSS is investigating whether Mirae Asset adequately assessed the risks involved and properly informed investors. A key concern is the potential conflict of interest, as reports indicate that Mirae Asset and its affiliates managed to secure some shares for themselves while failing to allocate any to their clients. "Given that not a single share was allocated to customer subscriptions, yet some shares were allocated to our company and affiliates, a question arises about whether the company's interests were prioritized during the subscription process," a senior FSS official told the Hankyoreh.

“

Given that not a single share was allocated to customer subscriptions, yet some shares were allocated to our company and affiliates, a question arises about whether the company's interests were prioritized during the subscription process.

Mirae Asset has apologized to customers, explaining that the final allocation of shares is at the discretion of the lead underwriter, Goldman Sachs. The firm stated that the allocated shares for domestic investors disappeared during this reallocation process. The company has refunded the approximately $474 million (720 billion won) collected from investors.

SpaceX's IPO, which garnered significant attention as potentially the largest ever, saw its stock price close at $161.11 on its Nasdaq debut on Tuesday, up 19.34% from its IPO price of $135. The company raised a record $75 billion (approximately 114 trillion won) through this offering.

“

The allocation of shares to be sold for each underwriter is determined at the discretion of the lead underwriter, and in this process, the allocated shares disappeared.