[Law Firm Now] Bareun, Anti-Corruption Financial Economic Crime Response Team "Faster Investigation Speed... Must Clear Charges Through Early Response"

Over 20 Partner-Level Aces from Prosecution, Courts, Financial Supervisory Service, and Police Positioned
Prosecution's 'Top Special Investigator' Lawyer Jo Jaebin Leads the Team
Lawyer Ma Seonghan from Financial Supervisory Service Accounting Investigation Bureau Joins in January

Editor's Note [Law Firms Now] delivers various news including domestic law firms' winning cases, recruitment of new members, launch of task forces, and establishment of centers.

From the left, Lawyer Ma Seonghan of Barun Law Firm's Anti-Corruption Financial Economic Crime Response Team, Specialist Go Cheolmun, Lawyer Go Jinwon, Chief Lawyer No Mankyung, Lawyer Jo Jaebin (Team Leader), Lawyer Choi Jinsuk. / Photo by Barun Law Firm

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] Since the inauguration of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, the Joint Financial and Securities Crime Investigation Unit has been reinstated at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, and the Joint Investigation Units for National Fiscal Crime and Voice Phishing have been newly established one after another. Accordingly, investigations and prosecutions related to financial, securities, and tax cases are expected to increase, along with more trials. In response to this rapidly changing business environment, Barun Law LLC (General Representative Attorney Park Jae-pil) has formed and is operating the "Anti-Corruption Financial Economic Crime Response Team" to protect the rights of client companies.

The Barun Anti-Corruption Financial Economic Crime Response Team focuses not only on responses during investigations and trials, which are Barun Law's strengths, but also on meticulous responses from the early stages of financial authorities' investigations to minimize client risks. In particular, the team provides comprehensive, customized legal services through organic collaboration among top experts in all aspects of anti-corruption financial economic crime cases, including responses to various administrative measures such as delisting and disciplinary actions, and investigations and prosecutions of various financial securities crime cases such as violations of the Capital Markets Act.

The Barun Anti-Corruption Financial Economic Crime Response Team consists of about 20 distinguished partner-level members, including former ace prosecutors, judges, and Financial Supervisory Service officials. The team leader is Attorney Cho Jae-bin (Judicial Research and Training Institute Class 29), who gained fame as a representative "special prosecutor" by serving in all of the Special Investigation Divisions 2, 3, and 4 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office during his prosecutorial career.

Led by Attorney Cho, the team includes veteran attorneys with rich investigation and trial experience such as former prosecutors Kim Jin-sook (Class 22), Nam Bok-hyun (Class 25), Song Gil-dae (Class 30), Go Jin-won (Class 33), Kang Tae-hoon (Class 36), Choi Seung-hwan (Class 39); former judges and representative attorney No Man-kyung (Class 18) and attorney Kim Jae-hwan (Class 22); and attorney Kim Do-hyung (Class 34), who led major financial lawsuits to victory, including damages claims related to the delisting of China Gaosheng and lawsuits related to accounting fraud at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.

Additionally, elite attorneys with extensive experience in financial advisory such as former Financial Supervisory Service officials Ma Seong-han (Class 38) and Ahn Joo-hyun (Class 39), and financial advisory specialists Choi Jin-sook (Class 28), Jung Kyung-ho (Class 32), and Choi Jae-woong (Class 38) contribute their expertise, along with attorney Kim Yong-chul (Class 21), who leads Barun's criminal group. The team also includes advisors with practical experience and expertise such as Kim Yang-je, former head of the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency, and Ko Cheol-moon, former head of the Economic Crime Investigation Division at Seocho Police Station.

In particular, Attorney Cho Jae-bin, who leads the team, was the first in the prosecution to be certified as a Level 2 "Blue Belt" specialist prosecutor in the construction and civil engineering corruption field in 2016. He is a specialist well-versed in finance and anti-corruption, having been dispatched to the Financial Services Commission's Capital Market Investigation Unit, served as deputy chief prosecutor in Busan and Incheon handling customs and tax cases, and worked as chief prosecutor of the Special Investigation Division 4, deputy chief prosecutor of Special Investigation Division 3, and prosecutor of Special Investigation Division 2 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.

In January this year, Attorney Ma Seong-han, a former Financial Supervisory Service Accounting Investigation Bureau official, joined Barun, further strengthening the team's ability to respond at the early stages of financial authorities' investigations. From 2013 to 2022, Ma worked in various departments of the Financial Supervisory Service including the Loan Business Audit Office, Financial Investment Bureau, Supervisory General Bureau, Accounting Planning and Audit Office, and Accounting Investigation Bureau. He handled numerous inspections and sanctions against loan businesses and intermediaries, securities companies, and conducted accounting investigations, audits, and sanctions on major listed companies. He also participated in practical work for revising the Loan Business Act and its enforcement decree, establishing subordinate regulations, and drafting and revising the Act on Corporate Governance of Financial Companies.

The Barun Anti-Corruption Financial Economic Crime Response Team has recently handled high-profile cases such as the "Terra-Luna" case and the "Edison Motors' acquisition of Ssangyong Motor" case. They have also achieved excellent results during investigation stages, including obtaining no-charge dispositions and acquittals in Capital Markets Act violation cases involving insider trading by executives of listed companies, and no-charge dispositions in cases such as accounting fraud at a listed travel agency.

Attorney Cho Jae-bin said, "The speed of prosecution investigations into financial crimes has become very fast. From the perspective of those under investigation, early response has become more important than anything else." He added, "If one is cleared of suspicion during the investigation stage by financial authorities or related agencies, it can reduce costs and burdens compared to proceeding to investigation and trial stages. Therefore, early response is key to reducing risks, and experience in directly investigating large-scale anti-corruption cases is essential for responding to anti-corruption investigations."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.