South Korea's antitrust regulator announced on Wednesday that it will remove the cap on whistleblower rewards for reporting unfair trade practices, effective this week, to better incentivize informants.

According to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC), starting Thursday, individuals who report unfair trade practices can receive a reward of up to 10% of the fine imposed on the violator. The previous reward ceiling was 30 billion won (approximately $198 million).

To date, the highest cash reward given to a whistleblower was 17.5 billion won, related to a 2021 case involving price-fixing in steel products.

The FTC provided an example, stating that under the new system, the maximum reward for a May price-fixing case in the flour industry would have reached 67.1 billion won. This calculation is based on the total fines of 671 billion won imposed on seven flour producers involved in that case.

The commission explained that the revised and implemented reward program aims to raise public awareness and encourage participants to report unfair trade practices to the authorities, thereby helping to deter activities like price manipulation.

The FTC stated it will continue its efforts to promote a fair market economy and prevent unfair trade practices.