South Korea’s FSS to Hold September Relay Briefings on Pharma·Bio Disclosure Reform — BigGo Finance

South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) will hold a series of relay briefings next month for listed companies, underwriters, and IPO preparation companies to support the on-the-ground implementation of the comprehensive pharmaceutical·bio disclosure improvement plan announced last month. The sessions are designed to provide guidance on specific drafting methods and key considerations for reflecting the disclosure requirements in securities registration statements and periodic and ad hoc disclosures.

The FSS announced on the 25th that it will hold a total of four briefing sessions in September to ensure the smooth implementation and early adoption of the comprehensive pharmaceutical·bio disclosure improvement plan. Given that market participants—including KOSPI- and KOSDAQ-listed companies, underwriters, and IPO preparation companies—have different areas of interest, the FSS plans to divide the target audience and provide tailored practical guidance.

The briefings will begin with KOSDAQ-listed companies on September 1, followed by underwriters on September 8, IPO preparation companies on September 15, and KOSPI-listed companies on September 21. The KOSDAQ-listed company briefing will be held at the KOSDAQ Association auditorium, the underwriter and IPO preparation company briefings at the Korea Financial Investment Education Institute, and the KOSPI-listed company briefing at the FSS main auditorium. Companies and disclosure officers wishing to attend in person can register through the respective hosting association for each session.

The FSS announced the comprehensive improvement plan on the 30th of last month, revising standards related to securities registration statements, periodic and ad hoc disclosures, and media coverage for pharmaceutical·bio companies. These briefings will explain specific drafting methods and key considerations so that the announced improvements can be applied to actual disclosure work.

For the IPO process, a key focus will be the requirement to document core assumptions in IPO pricing in greater detail. These include projected market size, clinical trial success probability, regulatory approval and review risks, and development timelines and costs. The FSS plans to provide detailed drafting standards for these core assumptions to reduce trial and error in preparing securities registration statements.

For periodic and ad hoc disclosures, the improvement plan expands the disclosure scope for technology transfer agreements, including contract size and contract structure, and introduces a comprehensive history management table that allows investors to review the full history of new drug candidates under development. Technology transfer agreements must now disclose details such as upfront payments, development milestones, regulatory approval and sales milestones, and royalties.

The plan also includes measures to strengthen interconnectivity between disclosures and add explanatory notes to technical terminology that investors may find difficult to understand. Regarding media coverage, guidelines have been established requiring important information to be disclosed first through official channels and ensuring consistency between disclosure content and media reports. These aspects will also be covered in the briefings to help companies apply them in practice.

The FSS aims to ensure that companies fully understand the improved disclosure standards, thereby enhancing the quality of information provided and minimizing correction requests or fundraising schedule delays caused by inadequate disclosure document preparation. The disclosure guidelines presented at the briefings will also be posted on the FSS website at a later date.