South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the country's main financial watchdog, has pledged to conduct a transparent and prompt disciplinary process against private equity firm MBK Partners over its management of struggling retailer Homeplus. FSS Governor Lee Chan-jin told a parliamentary session on Tuesday that the regulator is pursuing penalties — including a suspension of duties — following an on-site inspection that found alleged violations of the Capital Markets Act and internal control obligations, though the penalty still requires approval from the Financial Services Commission to take effect. The case centres on Homeplus, which MBK Partners acquired for 7.2 trillion won (roughly $4.9 billion) from British retailer Tesco in 2015; the chain has since faltered amid a broader slump in discount retail and is currently undergoing court-led rehabilitation proceedings after briefly having them terminated in early July.