Lee & Ko’s Capital Markets Practice Group provides legal advice and assistance for all phases of securities transaction, including structuring, issuance, secondary trading, ongoing regulatory compliance, amendment, restructuring and unwinding.

Our services can be further broken down into (i) structuring equity, debt, hybrid and derivatives product, (ii) evaluating the legality of such products, (iii) analyzing relevant laws and regulations, (iv) drafting and negotiating purchase agreements, prospectuses, registration statements and ISDA documents, (v) coordinating with foreign legal advisors and counterparties, (vi) conducting due diligences, (vii) obtaining regulatory approvals, and (viii) when necessary, petitioning for refinements or favorable interpretations of ambiguous requirements within the existing regulatory framework.

Whenever a tax, antitrust, criminal or other matter outside the securities law becomes an ancillary issue in connection with a client’s capital markets transaction, the Group brings in the relevant expert from other groups at Lee & Ko so that the client can benefit from a one-stop solution.

Expertise

Representative Products and Markets

The following is the list of representative types of securities and markets that Lee & Ko handles:
Debt capital markets (DCM): fixed-rate securities(including foreign exchange equalization bonds, foreign currency CD program by a Korean branch of a foreign bank), floating-rate securities, junior/subordinate notes, overseas offerings under Rule 144A and Regulation S, dual currency bonds (related Korean regulatory compliance issues), Yankee bonds, Samurai bonds, Arirang bonds, Kimchi bonds, exchangeable bonds (EB), convertible bonds (CB), bonds with warrants (BW), medium-term note (MTN) programs and commercial paper (CP) programs
Equity capital markets (ECM): global depositary receipts (GDR), American depositary receipts (ADR), Korean depositary receipts (KDR), redeemable preferred shares (RPS), redeemable convertible preferred shares (RCPS)
Structured securities: equity-linked notes (ELN), equity-linked warrants (ELW), credit-linked notes (CLN), derivatives-linked securities (DLS), stock appreciation income linked securities (SAILS)
Markets and regulatory compliance: registration statements and stock ownership disclosure requirements in Korea, coordination with Korean parties and advice on related Korean regulatory compliance in relation to SEC form 20-F and shelf registration statements in the United States, KANTO filings in Japan and other filings required in the aforementioned countries, as well as other jurisdictions.

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Major Cases

Groundbreaking and Representative Transactions

SK Battery America's Issuance of Green Notes (Debt Market Deal of the Year, ALB, 2021)
The Korea Development Bank's GMTN Programme (Debt Market Deal of the Year, ALB, 2020)
LG Chem’s Issuance of USD 1 Billion Green Bonds (Debt Market Deal of the Year, Asian-mena Counsel Megazine, 2019)
The first offshore CD programme of a Korean branch of a non-Korean bank (China Construction Bank, Seoul Branch)
The first NASDAQ listing by a Korean company (Thrunet)
The first concurrent domestic and overseas dual-listing by a Korean company (Lotte Shopping)
The first listing of shares on the KRX KOSPI Market by an overseas company (United Technology Holding Limited)
The first listing of depositary receipts on the KRX KOSPI Market by an overseas company (Huafeng Textile International Group Limited)
The first IPO of a Korean life insurance company (Tong Yang Life Insurance)
The first overseas convertible bonds (CB) issuance by a Korean company (Samsung Electronics)
The first simultaneous domestic and overseas offering of global depositary receipts (GDR) by a Korean company (Hynix Semiconductor)
The first synthetic exchangeable bonds (EB) issuance by Korean companies (LG Industrial Systems, Daelim Industrial, Byucksan Engineering & Construction)
The first hybrid Tier-1 bonds issuance by a Korean financial institution (Hana Bank)
The first significant redeemable convertible preferred shares (RCPS) issuance by a Korean company (LG Electronics)
The first going-public bonds (GPB) issuance by a Korean state-owned enterprise (Korea Electric Power)
The first asset-backed securities (ABS) issuance by a Korean company (Orion ABS Specialty)
The first overseas sale of asset-backed securities (ABS) by a Korean company (Korea Asset Management)
The first asset-backed commercial papers (ABCP) issuance by a Korean company (Hanjin Shipping)
The first dual commercial paper programmes of a Korean bank (the Industrial Bank of Korea)
The first foreign exchange rate–embedded convertible bonds issuance by a Korean company (LG Uplus)