South Korean police referred HYBE chairman Bang Si-hyuk and four associates to prosecutors on September 3, 2026, on charges of fraudulent unfair trading under the Capital Markets Act tied to alleged misleading of early investors before the company’s 2020 IPO. Investigators cited 263.1 billion won in purported illicit gains and secured a pre-indictment asset preservation order, though Bang was not detained. Prosecutors rejected two earlier police requests for arrest warrants and must now determine whether to seek formal indictment, order further investigation, or drop the matter. Bang’s legal team has consistently denied wrongdoing and asserted compliance with listing rules. With the file only recently transferred in mid-September, the procedural timeline and historical patterns of prosecutorial review underpin the current trader consensus reflected in the 66 percent probability assigned to no charges materializing in 2026.