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

has decided to impose 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 ) and Morgan

Stanley ( MS ) declined to comment, while UBS said it

did not have any comment at this time.

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.