On Tuesday, August 26, the South Korean news outlet Edaily reported that HYBE's chairman, Bang Si-hyuk, was given a warning by the Fair Trade Commission. This was due to the chairman's alleged omission of two of HYBE's affiliate companies on the official listing.The news outlet continued that the two companies - Shinwoo Comprehensive Architectural Office and Tobinur - 100% owned by Bang Si-hyuk's cousins and their children, were not listed when the agency submitted the required materials for designation as a public corporation.According to the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act (MRFTA), the business owner is expected to submit all information on the affiliates, their relations, and the shareholders in order to designate corporate groups that hold total assets worth 5 trillion won or more.Additionally, under the same act, if the relatives that control the companies own 30% or more of the agency's stock, then this disclosure of affiliation becomes necessary. Therefore, the FTC called and warned HYBE's chairman, Bang Si-hyuk, for his failure to do so. While this violation is valid for indictment, since the issue was not severe enough, the FTC gave just a warning.Regardless, they stated that the seriousness of the issue was considerable. As reported by Edaily, here's what the Fair Trade Commission stated regarding the matter:“By omitting two companies from HYBE’s affiliate list in 2023, Bang submitted false data without a justifiable reason, which constitutes a violation under the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act."They continued:"However, since there is no evidence that the omission was planned or knowingly approved, and since the two companies had no investment or transactional relationship with HYBE, the omission did not compromise the law’s purpose of preventing economic concentration. These factors were taken into account.”All you need to know about HYBE chairman Bang Si-hyuk's IPO fraud controversyIn July 2025, The Korea Economic Daily reported that HYBE's chairman, Bang Si-hyuk, was taken under investigation for alleged unfair trade practices. The controversy reportedly began back in 2020, during the establishment of HYBE Labels and the rebranding of BigHit Entertainment.As the agency was securing investors before HYBE's IPO, the chairman reportedly misled investors by stating that they will not be opting for a public listing. However, without informing the company's investors, Bang Si-hyuk allegedly established ties with other private equity funds, creating a profit of 400 billion KRW after HYBE started its IPO.Since this profit was not covered under the official listings of HYBE Labels, Bang Si-hyuk allegedly violated the Capital Market Law of South Korea, and this issue resulted in the recent investigations. After this news landed on the internet, HYBE Labels responded to the ongoing controversy, stating:"It is regrettable that the largest shareholder's active explanation that he appeared for the Financial Supervisory Service investigation and that he had not sought private profits on the premise of the listing was not accepted."The statement continued,"We respect the decision of the financial authorities and will do our best to more actively clarify the related suspicions in the upcoming investigation so that we can restore the trust of the market and stakeholders."Following this, no proceedings on the case have been revealed to the public.