SEOUL, Feb 13 (Reuters) - South Korea's market watchdog

has imposed fines on JPMorgan ( JPM ), Morgan Stanley ( MS ), Nomura and UBS

for violating short-selling rules in the domestic stock market,

officials at the country's Financial Supervisory Service (FSS)

said on Thursday.

"We have concluded administrative sanctions, meaning

imposing fines," an official said, declining to provide further

details because the decision had not been officially disclosed.

The decision was made on Wednesday by the Securities and

Futures Commission, according to another official at the FSS.

Nomura said it was not aware of any decision by the

regulator and could not comment. JPMorgan ( JPM ) declined to

comment, while UBS and Morgan Stanley ( MS ) did not

immediately respond to a request for comment.

In South Korea, naked short-selling of stocks, or selling

stocks without borrowing them first or determining they can be

borrowed, is banned by the Capital Markets Act.

South Korea plans to lift in March a market-wide ban

introduced in November 2023 on stock short-selling, when it is

expected to have a system ready to detect illegal trades.