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South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC) has finalized penalties totaling around 370 billion won ($276 million) against 13 financial institutions—seven banks and six securities firms—for mis-selling Hong Kong H-Index equity-linked securities (ELS), marking the largest monetary sanction ever imposed by the regulator. The final amount, reported by Yonhap and others, is roughly 1 trillion won less than the initial 1.4 trillion won proposed by the Financial Supervisory Service's sanctions committee in 2023, with the banking sector's fines reduced to 362 billion won from an earlier 4 trillion won consideration. The process concluded about three years after the FSS began its inspection in November 2023, with the FSC deciding the penalties at its regular meeting on November 4, 2026. Korean media, including Dong-A Ilbo and Chosun Ilbo, emphasize the record scale despite the reduction, with Chosun noting that fines plus penalties total 374.6 billion won. Reactions from Korean outlets focus on the historic nature of the sanction and the lengthy deliberation, though specific public or blogger commentary is not detailed in the provided reports.