Seven banks and six securities firms were slapped with a combined 370 billion won ($276 million) in penalties by the financial regulator Wednesday over their mis-selling of equity-linked securities (ELS) products tracking Hong Kong's H Index. The amount is a sharp cut from the initial 1.4 trillion-won fine on the five lenders — KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank, NH Nonghyup and SC Korea — which had already suffered massive losses as they had compensated customers over the mishap, according to the Financial Services Commission (FSC). Seoul's financial regulator finalized the penalty after ordering the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the country's financial watchdog, to further review some legal issues. Earlier, the FSS had proposed a 600 billion-won penalty on the banks. The regulator imposed 361 billion won in penalties on the seven lenders. Banks and brokerages had sold a combined 19.3 trillion won worth of ELS products, tracking Hong Kong's H index since 2021, according to earlier data from the watchdog. KB Kookmin Bank sold the largest amount of HK-tied ELS products wort