South Korea's financial regulator will levy fines on JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Nomura, and UBS for breaching short-selling rules in the domestic stock market, disclosed officials from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) on Thursday. 

"We have decided on administrative sanctions, which involve imposing fines," stated an official, who refrained from sharing further specifics as the decision has not been officially disclosed.

The Securities and Futures Commission made the ruling on Wednesday, as confirmed by an additional FSS official. Nomura expressed unawareness of any regulatory decision and refrained from commenting. JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley opted not to provide comments, while UBS had yet to respond to a comment inquiry.

In South Korea, the Capital Markets Act prohibits naked short-selling of stocks, defined as selling stocks without proper borrowing or confirmation of borrowability. South Korea plans to lift the market-wide ban on stock short-selling introduced in November 2023 by March, once a system is in place to detect illicit trades.