South Korea’s richest man in spotlight as RoC hauls up Samsung’s Indian unit

livemint.com:

₹8,14,200 on Samsung Display, its two directors, company secretary and a former official for violating Indian laws on significant beneficial ownership. The fine must be paid in 90 days. The parties have 60 days to appeal against the order before the corporate affairs ministry’s regional director.

The registrar said Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd holds full ownership rights in Samsung Display Noida. It said that Lee—whose father was reportedly the largest shareholder of Samsung Electronics Co.—was named executive chairman of Samsung Electronics in October 2022 even though he did not have a majority shareholding.

Also read | Mint Explainer: Significant beneficial owners and what the govt wants to know The registrar said that going by information available in the public domain and other observations, it appears Lee and his family exercise indirect control or have significant influence over Samsung Electronics, the owner of Samsung Display Noida. Hence, the Indian company should have named him as the significant beneficial owner of the Indian entity but did not, the RoC said in an order, justifying its action. Section 90 of India’s Companies Act 2013 mandate companies to declare significant beneficial ownership.

In a similar case, RoC for Delhi and Haryana last month slapped penalties of over ₹27 lakh on LinkedIn India, Nadella, LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky and seven other individuals. RoC in its order then said the company and its officers were liable for action for their failure in identifying its significant beneficial owners. LinkedIn has said it is in compliance with Indian laws.