NPS to cease trading with Deutsche Bank unit

SEOUL, March 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's national pension fund said Thursday it will halt placing stock and derivatives orders with the local brokerage unit of Deutsche Bank AG, following a partial suspension of the latter's operations.
The National Pension Service (NPS) will exclude Deutsche Securities Korea Co. when placing stock and derivatives orders for the next six months, it said, adding that the decision was made according to the NPS's fund operation regulations.
NPS, the world's fourth-largest pension fund manager, is estimated to hold around a 5 percent stake in the local stock market.
The move comes on the heels of the Financial Services Commission's Feb. 23 decision that partially bans Deutsche Securities Korea's operations after the company was caught placing massive sell orders in the closing minutes of trading on Nov. 11, which sent the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) tumbling 2.7 percent.
Deutsche Securities Korea earlier said in a regulatory filing that the six-month ban, which starts on April 1, will likely incur losses worth 11.2 billion won (US$10 million). The amount accounts for 9 percent of the unit's total operating income in fiscal 2009.