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Sep 26, 2023
- Government to Prepare Measures to Overhaul Rules on Mutual Financial Businesses
- The Financial Services Commission held the 3rd consultative body meeting on mutual financial businesses with related government ministries and mutual financial businesses on September 26. At the meeting, the authorities decided to draw up a joint plan to overhaul and update the current regulatory framework on mutual financial businesses in line with the growth of the sector and changes in their operating environment. The authorities also decided to set up and operate a daily monitoring system from mid-October to closely check the liquidity condition of mutual financial businesses. In terms of the size of total assets, between end-2013 and end-June 2023, the mutual finance industry has grown from KRW475 trillion to more than KRW1 quadrillion, with some entities growing to the level equivalent to a commercial financial institution within a region. In addition, the nature of their operation has shifted as loans extended to households by mutual financial businesses declined in recent years, while the volume of corporate lending from them has expanded significantly. Considering this growth and change in the operating environment of mutual financial businesses, the authorities exchanged views on the need to shore up rules on their prudential management and governance structure. Amid ongoing concerns about the soundness and liquidity conditions of the mutual finance industry, the authorities also shared views on the need to strengthen risk management in vulnerable areas while ensuring the provision of prompt liquidity support if needed. With regard to the application of key consumer safeguard measures guaranteed under the Financial Consumer Protection Act, for which most mutual financial businesses other than credit unions are exempted, the authorities talked about the need to introduce safeguard measures even before they are put into relevant laws. Lastly, the authorities went over the liquidity condition of mutual financial businesses. Although it is stable currently, th
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Sep 25, 2023
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Sep 25, 2023
- Online Loan Transfer Service to be Available for Housing Loans
- The Financial Services Commission announced that the online loan transfer service will be available for mortgage loans for apartments and jeonseloans for all housing types, allowing borrowers to compare different rates online and make a switch to the one offering lower interest rates. From May 31, 2023, the online loan transfer systems service availability has been expanded to include individual credit loans. As of September 15, a total of 67,384 transfers have been made with the volume of loans reaching more than KRW1.58 trillion. On average, applicants received interest rate cuts of 1.5 percentage points, and their total annual saving in interest payments is estimated to be more than KRW30 billion. The borrowers who switched loans saw their credit scores increase, and there has been more competition between financial companies in lowering interest rates. Based on these favorable outcomes, the authorities plan to expand the service availability to include home-backed mortgage loans for apartments and jeonse loans for all housing types. Previously, the process of switching a mortgage loan or a jeonse loan was ridden with inconveniences, as there were no sufficient loan comparison platforms and due to the hassle of having to visit multiple financial institutions. To help remove these inconveniences, the authorities will develop an online loan transfer infrastructure for housing loans joined by about 19 loan comparison platforms and some 32 financial companies. Relevant information sharing between financial companies will take place to ensure a seamless loan transfer experience for consumers. The loan transfer infrastructure for housing loans is expected to be set up by the end of 2023 and open to public in stages beginning in January 2024. The authorities expect that this will bring about more choices for financial consumers and open up new opportunities for financial companies and fintech businesses. * Please refer to the attached file for details.
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Sep 25, 2023
- Policy Funds to Supply Venture Capital in Strategic Areas
- The Financial Services Commission held the 4th consultative body meeting on policy finance support with the related government ministries, policy financial institutions and a young entrepreneurs foundation on September 25. The consultative body on policy finance support was created last year to ensure more close alignment between the governments industrial strategies and supply of policy funds. In the five key strategic areas, the authorities last year pledged to supply a total of KRW91 trillion in policy funds support for 2023. As of August 2023, policy financial institutions have supplied a total of KRW73.8 trillion of policy funds support in the five key strategic sectors, achieving 80.4 percent of the annual supply target and surpassing the initial supply plan of 66.7 percent by the month of August. Along with concerns about an economic slowdown emanating from China, FSC Vice Chairman Kim So-young said that it is possible that interest rates and oil prices may continue to stay high for a while. Thus, in close coordination with relevant ministries, Vice Chairman Kim said that the authorities will work to ensure effective supply of policy funds to businesses to prevent funding shortages. To help ensure a continuous supply of policy finance support in each industry, the authorities discussed ways to more closely implement various industrial policy programs overseen by relevant government ministries with appropriate budget planning. In this regard, Vice Chairman Kim said that in order to provide policy finance support to various industrial sectors on a continuing basis, it is crucial to have a closer linkage between the supply of policy finance and fiscal planning. The authorities also discussed ways to overhaul the operation of Growth Ladder Fund, a fund dedicated for SMEs and venture businesses whose 10-year investment period has ended in August. The new Growth Ladder Fund will focus on investing in underfunded areas such as deep tech and climate sectors where the
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Sep 21, 2023
- Capital Market Investigation Unit Commemorates Ten Years of Establishment and Lays Out Plans Ahead
- The Financial Services Commission held an event commemorating the capital market investigation units establishment ten years ago together with the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office, the Financial Supervisory Service and the Korea Exchange on September 21. The authorities also set out plans to bolster market surveillance, investigation and punishment on unfair trading activities in capital markets. Speaking about the significance of the work performed by the investigation unit, FSC Chairman Kim Joo-hyun said that along with the increasing number of investors in capital markets in recent years, the nature of unfair trading activities has also become diversified with a growing number of incidents involving more sophisticated and organized forms of crimes taking place. Since unfair trading activities constitute serious crimes that can erode investor confidence in capital markets, Chairman Kim said that it is crucial to maintain stringent countermeasures against them. In this regard, Chairman Kim emphasized on the importance of the measures being announced today as they are aimed at bolstering market surveillance, investigation and punishment on unfair trading activities in capital markets. More specifically, the measures will first strengthen inter-agency coordination and collaboration among all relevant authorities to ensure that the governments efforts to counter unfair trading activities are carried out as one team. Second, the authorities will improve the market surveillance and investigation process and shore up organizational capacity to ensure that effective detection, prompt investigation and strict punishment can take place on various types of unfair trading activities. Third, the authorities will work on seamless preparation for the enforcement of penalty surcharges as a newly available means for sanctioning unfair trading activities, while actively seeking to adopt additional sanctions mechanisms including an asset freeze, a trading ban and a ban on
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Sep 13, 2023
- Government Holds Meeting on Household Debt and Introduces Measures to Strengthen Management
- The Financial Services Commission held a meeting to discuss the current household debt situation with officials from the relevant government ministries and organizations on September 13 and announced a set of measures aimed at strengthening management of household debt growth. With the volume of housing transactions recovering in July-August, the balance of household debt also continued to expand, led by mortgage loans in the banking sector. Especially, in July-August, the heightened competition between banks to introduce 50-year mortgage loans, in effect, pushed up the growth pattern. Under the current situation, 50-year mortgage loans can be utilized to circumvent the debt service ratio (DSR) rule by borrowers, and excessive lending or speculation in the property sector can potentially exacerbate the risk of household debt. As such, the authorities at the meeting agreed on the need to more closely manage and avert potential risks from long-term mortgage loans. Moreover, with regard to the issuance of special Bogeumjari loan, the pace of application has largely declined with upward adjustment of interest rates taking place in July-August. On special Bogeumjari loan, the authorities shared the same view that the availability of policy lending support through the remaining capacity of special Bogeumjari loan should focus on lower income households and non-speculative homebuyers. Strengthening Management of Household Lending in Banking Sector The government plans to take prompt measures to ensure that long-term mortgage loans (with 40-yr or 50-yr maturity) are not being utilized as a means of bypassing loan regulations. The authorities will ensure that banks are strictly following the principle of lending within the borrowers repayment capability and strengthen rules on debt service ratio (DSR) to prevent banks from engaging in loose management of household loan issuance, especially in their handling of 50-year mortgage loans. To this end, first, the authorities will
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Sep 13, 2023
- Household Loans, August 2023
- The outstanding balance of household loans across all financial sectors rose KRW6.2 trillion in August 2023 (preliminary), going up for the fifth consecutive month. Compared to the same month of the previous year, household loans dropped 0.5 percent. * Change (in trillion KRW): -5.1 (Feb 2023), -5.1 (Mar), +0.2 (Apr), +2.8 (May), +3.5 (Jun), +5.3 (Jul), +6.2 (Aug) (By Type) Home mortgage loans continued to grow but other types of loans fell at a greater pace. Mortgage loans rose KRW6.6 trillion overall with a drop of KRW0.4 trillion in the nonbanking sector and an increase of KRW7.0 trillion in the banking sector. Other types of loans decreased KRW0.4 trillion as banks and nonbanks both saw drops of KRW0.1 trillion and KRW0.3 trillion, respectively. sector. Banks saw a rise of KRW6.9 trillion of household loans in August, an increase for five straight months. Home mortgage loans went up KRW7.0 trillion in the banking sector, despite a fall of KRW0.1 trillion in jeonse loans, as individual mortgage loans (up KRW4.1 trillion), policy mortgage loans (up KRW2.7 trillion) and group lending for new apartment subscription (up KRW0.2 trillion) all went up. Other types of loans dropped KRW0.1 trillion as credit loans grew (up KRW0.03 trillion) at a slower pace. Household loans in the nonbanking sector declined KRW0.7 trillion overall. Insurance companies and specialized credit finance businesses saw increases of KRW0.3 trillion and KRW0.6 trillion, respectively, while mutual finance companies and savings banks saw drops of KRW1.5 trillion and KRW0.1 trillion, respectively. Household loans continued to grow in August led by home mortgage loans in the banking sector. By encouraging lenders to carry out credit evaluation based on individual borrowers payment capability and conducting on-site inspections on banks household loans, the authorities will work to ensure stable management of household loans throughout the second half of this year. * Please refer to the attached file f
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Sep 11, 2023
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Sep 08, 2023
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Sep 06, 2023
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Sep 05, 2023
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Aug 31, 2023
- Enhanced Transparency and Investor Protection Measures on CFD Transactions to Take Effect from September
- The Financial Services Commission announced that a set of improvements to the rules on contract for difference (CFD) trading will take effect from September 1. The improvement measures include (a) provision of more transparent investment information to investors, (b) resolving the issue of regulatory arbitrage vis--vis credit loans and (c) strengthening protection for retail investors. First, from September 1, information about the actual investor type (individual, institution or foreign investor) will be displayed and provided on Korea Exchange (KRX)s trade data system (data.krx.co.kr) for CFD transactions. In addition, as in the case with credit loan balance, from September 1, CFD balances will be disclosed to enable the use of these data as a reference for investment. The overall CFD balance can be found on a website (freesis.kofia.or.kr) operated by the Korea Financial Investment Association. Meanwhile, information about CFD balances by item will be ready for viewing on HTS (home trading system) and MTS (mobile trading system) within September as each securities firm needs to finish up preparing relevant data network system. Second, there are stronger investor protection measures taking effect from September 1. As a new over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives investment requirement, for CFD transactions, retail investors need to be verified of having sufficient investment experience by securities firms. Retail investors need to show that they have maintained a monthly average balance of KRW300 million or more for one year or more within the past five years for transactions of equity stocks, derivatives products or highly complex derivatives-linked securities. In addition, retail investors applying to attain the status of a qualified professional investor will need to go through an in-person verification process (including video call) conducted by a securities firm. Third, CFD traders will need to deposit at least 40 percent of the amount of CFD trading as a requireme
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Aug 30, 2023
- 2023 Korea Fintech Week Begins
- Koreas annual global fintech expo, 2023 Korea Fintech Week, will be held for three days from August 30 to September 1 with domestic fintech firms, financial companies, relevant organizations and foreign governments and institutions joining at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul. The three-day (Aug 30 to Sep 1) fintech expo this year is the largest ever in its scale featuring a variety of exhibition halls as well as seminars and educational and experiential programs under the theme of the new wave of fintech. During the opening ceremony, Vice Chairman Kim So-young of the Financial Services Commission delivered welcoming remarks in which he emphasized the need to revitalize the fintech industry to propel innovation and continuous growth of the fintech industry. In this regard, Vice Chairman Kim laid out three key policy directions to support the fintech industry. First, the government will strengthen support for fintech firms business expansion to overseas markets. Second, the government will facilitate more cooperation between financial companies and fintech businesses. Third, the government will reform fintech regulations to make them more reasonable to ensure that fintech businesses are able to take advantage of new technologies and drive innovation. At the same time, Vice Chairman Kim said that the government will directly engage and communicate with fintech enterprises and make sure that a variety of assistance is available on the ground so that our fintech industry can continue to grow amid digital transformation. Following the opening ceremony, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signing event was held between financial companies, big tech platform businesses and Korea Growth Investment Corporation for establishing a second batch of fintech innovation fund in the amount of KRW500 billion for four years (2024-2027). After the opening ceremony featuring speeches by notable dignitaries, a policy briefing session is scheduled to be held during which visitors can
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Aug 29, 2023
- FSC Announces Current Status in Effort to Soft-land Loan Forbearance Measures for SMEs and Small Merchants
- The Financial Services Commission announced current situation regarding the effort to soft-land the loan forbearance measures put in place for SMEs and small merchants that have been hit by COVID-19 on August 29. The maturity extension and payment deferment programs introduced in April 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic have been extended for six months each time until now, and the loan forbearance programs are currently operating under the 5th extension plan announced in September 2022. Key details of the support measures under the 5th extension plan are as follows. First, borrowers on the maturity extension program can continue to get support in accordance with their current loan maturity structure (for six months or one year) until September 2025 without worrying about whether they will still be eligible for support. Second, borrowers on the payment deferment program can get support until September 2023, and they will draw up their debt payment plans in consultation with lending institutions. In accordance with their debt service plans, these borrowers will be able to spread out making payments for both principal and interests for up to 60 months (five years) until September 2028. A maximum one year of grace period can be granted on the amount of deferred interest payments. The number of borrowers as well as the total amount of outstanding loan balance subject to the maturity extension and payment deferment programs has been declining steadily. At the end of September 2022, there were about 430,000 borrowers with some KRW100 trillion in loan balance on the programs, but the numbers declined to 390,000 borrowers with KRW85 trillion by the end of March 2023 and KRW350,000 borrowers with KRW76 trillion by the end of June 2023. Compared to September 2022, by June 2023, there were about 80,000 less borrowers using the programs with a drop of about KRW24 trillion in the amount of loan balance, showing a drop of 20 percent and 24 percent, respectively. About KRW1
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Aug 21, 2023
- 2023 Korea Fintech Week to Kick Off August 30
- The annual global fintech expo, 2023 Korea Fintech Week, will kick off on August 30 with domestic fintech firms, financial companies, relevant organizations and foreign governments and institutions joining at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul. The three-day (Aug 30 to Sep 1) fintech expo will be the largest ever in its scale featuring a variety of exhibition halls as well as seminars and educational and experiential programs under the theme of the new wave of fintech. After an opening ceremony featuring speeches by notable dignitaries, a policy briefing session is scheduled to be held during which visitors can learn about the Korean governments fintech policies as well as relevant fintech support programs made available by regional government bodies. Twelve different themed seminars are scheduled throughout the three-day expo period, inviting fintech experts and related organizations to have in-depth discussions about some of the most trending issues in fintech, such as payments, security, data usage, collaboration with a financial company and entering overseas markets. In particular, a joint fintech session with major international organizations (WB, EBRD, UNIDO and IFC) will provide an invaluable opportunity for visitors to get insights into global fintech trends and future development of the industry as the seminar will deal with the topics such as fintech and the future finance and linking sustainable development and fintech. There will be 82 exhibition booths organized into the fintech hall, financial hall, cooperating organizations hall and global exhibitor hall, showcasing innovative technologies and products from 107 businesses and organizations, which is the largest scale ever in terms of the number of on-site exhibition booths. A variety of helpful programs and events including global fintech: spoken by foreigners, fintech connecting day, fintech idea contest and fintech company IR pitching day as well as fintech job mentoring and career consulting wi
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Aug 17, 2023
- FSC Vice Chairman Holds Media Briefing on the Progress and Achievements of Capital Market Reform Agendas
- Vice Chairman Kim So-young of the Financial Services Commission held a media briefing on the progress and achievements of the governments capital market reform agendas on August 17. The following is a summary of Vice Chairman Kims remarks. I. Key Achievements This administration has been actively pursuing capital market reforms as a key part of the governments policy priority. In particular, the government has taken bold steps to resolve the problem of the so-called Korea discount by enhancing investor protections, removing outdated regulations and overhauling rules to foster innovation in the market. Despite the presence of difficult economic and financial conditions, there have been some favorable outcomes achieved thank to active cooperation between relevant institutions and industries. Restoring Investor Trust First, the government has prioritized in implementing a set of measures aimed at restoring investors trust in the capital market. In this regard, the governments policy focused on (a) strengthening the rights and interests of general shareholders, (b) bolstering response against fraudulent and unfair trading activities, and (c) ensuring order and fairness in the market. With regard to strengthening protections for general shareholders, we have put in place three layers of protection mechanisms at the end of last year to ensure that the rights and interests of general shareholders are thoroughly guaranteed in an IPO of a split-off subsidiary. Since the introduction of the measures, we have seen changes in corporate practices as more companies are drawing up shareholder protection plans on their own and communicating with shareholders to seek their consent. To protect general shareholders from unforeseen damages caused by insider transactions involving large shareholders or executive officers, we introduced a rule requiring corporate insiders to disclose their share trading plans before the expected trading date. To ensure that general shareholders can also
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Aug 16, 2023
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Aug 16, 2023
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Aug 14, 2023
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Aug 09, 2023
- Household Loans, July 2023
- The outstanding balance of household loans across all financial sectors rose KRW5.4 trillion in July 2023 (preliminary), going up for the fourth consecutive month. Compared to the same month last year, household loans dropped 0.8 percent. * Change (in trillion KRW): -8.1 (Jan 2023), -5.1 (Feb), -5.1 (Mar), +0.2 (Apr), +2.8 (May), +3.5 (Jun), +5.4 (Jul) (By Type) Home-backed mortgage loans grew at a slower pace but the pace of decline in other types of loans also slowed. Mortgage loans rose KRW5.6 trillion, despite a decline of KRW0.4 trillion in the nonbanking sector, as banks saw a rise of KRW6.0 trillion. Other types of loans fell KRW0.2 trillion as both banks and nonbanks saw drops of KRW0.01 trillion and KRW0.2 trillion, respectively. (By Sector) Household loans rose in the banking sector but declined in the nonbanking sector. Banks saw a rise of KRW6.0 trillion of household loans in July, which went up for the fourth straight month. Home mortgage loans went up KRW6.0 trillion in the banking sector as individual mortgage loans (up KRW3.9 trillion) and policy mortgage loans (up KRW2.4 trillion) increased. Jeonse loans (down KRW0.2 trillion) and group lending for new apartment subscription (down KRW0.1 trillion) declined. Other types of loans fell KRW0.01 trillion in the banking sector. Household loans in the nonbanking sector declined KRW0.6 trillion due to a drop of KRW1.6 trillion in the mutual finance sector, although insurance companies (up KRW0.5 trillion), savings banks (up KRW0.1 trillion) and specialized credit finance businesses (up KRW0.5 trillion) saw growths. As the growth of household loans has been picking up since April with the volume of housing transactions recovering recently, the financial authorities will closely monitor trends in household loans and work to prepare preemptive measures to stably manage the growth of household loans. * Please refer to the attached file for details.
