Chapter 1 General Provisions

Section 1 Overview of the Capital Markets Act
Section 2. Structure of the Capital Market Act
Section 3: Characteristics of the Capital Market Act as Regulatory Administration Law and Related Laws and Regulations
Section 4. Purpose of the Capital Market Act and the Four Major Regulatory Paradigms
Section 5 Capital Market Regulatory Agencies

Chapter 2: Basic Knowledge for Understanding Capital Market Law

Section 1: Basic Market Systems for Understanding Capital Markets Act
Section 2: Concept and Scope of Financial Investment Products and Investment Contract Securities, the Gateway to the Capital Market Act
Section 3: Explanation of basic terms necessary for understanding the Capital Markets Act

Chapter 3 Regulation of Financial Investment Businesses

Section 1 Overview of Financial Regulations
Section 2 Regulations on entry of financial investment companies
Section 3 Regulation of the governance structure of financial investment companies
Section 4 Regulation of the Soundness of Financial Investment Companies
Section 5 Regulation of Business Conduct of Financial Investment Companies

Chapter 4 Regulations on Securities Issuance (Public Offering Regulations)

Section 1 Philosophy of Competition Regulation
Section 2 Method of issuing securities
Section 3 Issuance System and Regulations
Section 4. Devices to ensure the authenticity of securities reports

Chapter 5 Continuous Disclosure Obligations of Public and Listed Corporations

Section 1 Overview of the obligation to continue disclosure
Section 2 Corporations Subject to Submission of Business Reports
Section 3 Contents of regular disclosures (business reports, semi-annual reports, quarterly reports)
Section 4 Contents of irregular disclosures (Major Matters Report and Exchange's Periodic Disclosures)

Chapter 6 Regulation of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)

Section 1 Types of M&A
Section 2 M&A Regulations under the Capital Market Act

Chapter 7 Unfair Trade Regulations

Section 1 Overview of Unfair Trade Regulations
Section 2 Insider Trading
Section 3 Regulation of price manipulation
Section 4 Regulation of Unfair Transactions
Section 5 Regulation of Market Disruption
Section 6 Short Selling Regulations
Section 7 Calculation of Unjust Enrichment

This book is not written in an academic style, citing and discussing the works and papers of other scholars like a typical introductory book, but rather in a lecture-style format, as if you were talking face to face in a classroom.
This can be said to be the author's intention to enable readers unfamiliar with capital market law to easily access the capital market.


By reading and understanding this book, beginners will be able to understand the difference between a company and a corporation, the differences between securities, stocks, and equity, how initial public offerings and listings are distinguished and carried out, how the level and scope of regulations for financial investment companies and listed companies are differentiated, what corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are and how and why they are regulated by law, and what the relationship is between the Financial Services Commission, the Securities and Futures Commission, and the Financial Supervisory Service.


Readers with basic knowledge will be able to grasp the overall framework of the Capital Markets Act at a glance based on the four major regulatory paradigms, understand the precise concepts and infinite expandability of investment contract securities and derivatives, be amazed by the vast regulations on the financial investment industry, learn the scope and limitations of regulations on listed corporations, and become newly alert to the lax yet meticulous regulations on unfair trade practices.

- What is the difference between a company and a corporation?
- What is the difference between securities, stocks, and stock certificates?
- What is the difference between an IPO and a listing?
How are the levels and scope of regulation for financial investment companies and listed companies differentiated?
What are mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and how and why are they regulated legally?
What is the relationship between the Financial Services Commission, the Securities and Futures Commission, and the Financial Supervisory Service?
How far can the concepts of investment contract securities and derivatives be expanded?
- What are the scope and limits of regulation of listed corporations?
How thorough are the regulations on unfair trade practices?
- What is the relationship between the Capital Markets Act and the Financial Consumer Protection Act?
- What does the imposition of fines for the three major unfair trade practices mean?

Korea's first introductory book on capital market law

This book is for beginners who want to understand capital market law.
This book will be very useful for readers who already have basic knowledge but want a more systematic understanding of capital market law.


In this book, the author pays great attention to the very important terms and concepts covered in capital market law.
In particular, the author intentionally asks in this book, “Why is that so?” “The reason is...
The phrase “because” was used a lot.
The reason was, firstly, to provide many opportunities for readers to think for themselves rather than just reading mechanically.
Second, by explaining the background and reasons for the system and regulations, we aimed to enable students to acquire and internalize as many of the basic principles that underpin the existence and inevitable change of the system and regulations as possible, rather than simply memorizing the current status of the system and the wording of the articles.
And I wanted to get a feel for how the basic principles in the book are actually applied through case studies.

The importance of a thorough understanding of the fundamental principles of capital market law.

Although this book is an introductory text, as the author states in the preface, if you are familiar with the background and basic principles, rather than the constantly changing state of the capital market, you will have no difficulty studying and applying the capital market law in your work, even if the details change due to legal revisions.
While it would be helpful for a commentary on a vast and specialized law like the Capital Markets Act to provide detailed explanations of specifics, this may not be essential.


Even if a book is written in detail and accurately, it is too risky to understand the current regulations by just looking at the book due to the nature of the capital market laws that change frequently. Therefore, you must check the laws yourself whenever necessary.


In this respect, as the author points out, press articles can be considered excellent study materials.
By thoroughly understanding the fundamental principles of capital market law, reading relevant media articles every day, organizing them into notes, searching for relevant materials on any parts you don't understand, asking experts, and discussing them with colleagues, you'll soon find yourself at an advanced level.
In this sense, although this book is an introductory text, I believe it will be very useful for readers who wish to begin studying capital market law professionally.


Reflecting the latest revisions to the Capital Market Act

This book has been reprinted several times since its first publication in December 2018.
The 2024 edition, which is being published after two years, reflects major changes in the law over the past two years, including the Financial Services Commission's system of imposing fines for unfair trade practices, the legalization of a method for calculating unjust profits when imposing fines and surcharges for unfair trade practices, and the introduction of a pre-disclosure system for insider trading.
In addition, as understanding investment contract securities becomes more important in relation to piecemeal investment, the content has been faithfully supplemented in this regard.
It also includes new regulations on quasi-investment advisory firms, which were revised in January 2024.