Activist fund Life Asset Management has asked Samsung Electronics’ special board committee and the Samsung Compliance Committee to independently review the company’s decision to defer use of 55 trillion to 75 trillion won in remaining shareholder-return funds until the end of January next year. The fund wants the committees to assess whether the delay serves shareholders, whether the economic rationale and procedures were sound, and whether potential conflicts involving Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong’s planned receipt of 11.158 million common shares from Hong Ra-hee, honorary director of the Leeum Museum of Art, were properly managed. Life Asset Management said on the 5th that it had requested the special board committee on the 4th to examine whether Samsung could execute shareholder returns within the year and report its findings to the board. It also asked the Compliance Committee to verify whether executives’ personal interests were identified and addressed during decisions on the timing and method of shareholder returns. The request follows the fund’s September proposal for Samsung to buy back and cancel shares before year-end, including an initial proposal to prioritize non-voting preferred shares to avoid the 10% ownership cap for financial affiliates under the Act on the Structural Improvement of the Financial Industry, followed by support for cancelling common and preferred shares simultaneously after criticism that a preferred-share-only plan could disadvantage common shareholders. Samsung disclosed no specific shareholder-return plan at its Aug. 21 second-quarter or Oct. 29 third-quarter earnings announcements and deferred the decision until January. Its shares fell 8.70% on the first trading day after the August announcement and 4.13% and 3.02% over the two sessions after the October announcement. SK hynix shares rose more than 10% after the company resolved in August and October to buy back a combined 50 trillion won of shares for cancellation. Life Asset Management said Samsung’s stock was trading at about five times this year’s expected earnings, while preferred shares were at a discount of more than 20% to common shares. The gift-tax valuation period runs from Sept. 12 to Jan. 12, and each 10,000-won change in the average share price changes the tax bill by about 65 billion won. The fund said the committees should establish whether the October board sufficiently considered the gift as a potential conflict, compared early execution with waiting until January, and reviewed its proposal to prioritize preferred-share buybacks and cancellations. The five-member special board committee, comprising all of Samsung Electronics’ independent directors, was established in April to review matters requiring protection of overall shareholder interests and equitable treatment.