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Feb 22, 2022
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Feb 21, 2022
- FSC Chairman Discusses Ways to Make Further Improvements to Accounting Industry
- FSC Chairman Koh Seungbeom held a meeting with the heads of major accounting firms and other industry representatives virtually on February 21 and discussed the effects of the 2017 accounting reforms and the governments efforts to further improve the accounting and auditing practices. The following is a summary of Chairman Kohs opening remarks. Since the 2017 revision of the Act on External Audit of Stock Companies,the accounting industry in Korea has continued to grow with the number of certified public accountants and accounting firms rising some 20 percent and the sectors sales earnings also growing about 46 percent compared to 2017. Despite this quantitative growth shown by the accounting industry, there are still concerns about the issue of accounting transparency where inappropriate actions from a few listed firms may erode public trust built over the years. Moreover, some of the SMEs may be undergoing hardships in catching up with the accounting reforms, and the audit quality of certain accounting firms has been found to be below market expectations. Against this backdrop, the government will make efforts this year to promote qualitative growth of the accounting industry. First, the authorities will actively seek improvements to the audit quality of accounting firms through performance-based incentives and inducements for self-improvements. Second, the authorities will strengthen efforts to ensure seamless enforcement of the best practice guideline on the designation of external auditor by facilitating communication between companies and auditors and preventing the possibility of conflicts. Third, the authorities will work to ease auditing burdens of SMEs in the process of applying the current accounting and auditing standards. Fourth, the authorities will work to promote the environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards as sustainable business management is a key issue handled by the accounting sector. With the International Sustainability Standards B
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Feb 16, 2022
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Feb 15, 2022
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Feb 10, 2022
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Feb 07, 2022
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Jan 27, 2022
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Jan 25, 2022
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Jan 19, 2022
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Jan 19, 2022
- FSC Chairman Holds Meeting to Review Debt Risks of Small Merchants
- FSC Chairman Koh Seungbeom held a meeting with officials from the Bank of Korea, Financial Supervisory Service, research institutions and local banks on January 19 to check business conditions of small-scale businesses and their debt risks as the loan maturity extension and payment deferment program is set to expire at the end of March 2022.The following is a summary of Chairman Kohs keynote address. Chairmans Remarks Self-employed small businesses make up about 87 percent of all businesses and 21 percent of economically active population in Korea. However, these businesses have suffered greatly in the past two years amid the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The financial sector has provided them with loan maturity extensions and deferment on interest payments and it has helped to ease small merchants payment burdens on some KRW272.2 trillion worth of business loans between April 2020 and November 2021. In addition, the small merchant lending support programs made available low interest rate busines loans to those facing liquidity problems. From the end of this month, adjustments made to the card processing fee rates will also help ease small merchants fee burdens.The prolonged pandemic situation, however, has raised concerns about a spread of potential risks to the financial system. For the past two years, the speed of debt growth for the self-employed has exceeded that of the household sector. An accumulation of bad debts can threaten stability in the financial system. In particular, delays in business recovery coupled with interest rate hikes can lead to a credit crunch and pose greater problems for small businesses. The loan maturity extensions and payment deferments for small merchants and SMEs are set to expire at the end of March 2022. Although it is difficult to predict events two months ahead, it is certain that there will be contradictory policy tasks between ensuring the risk handling capacity of small businesses and strengthening risk management in the financia
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Jan 18, 2022
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Jan 17, 2022
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Jan 14, 2022
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Jan 13, 2022
- FSC Chairman Emphasizes Stability as Key Policy Priority in Meeting with Expert Group
- FSC Chairman Koh Seungbeom held a meeting with a group of experts on January 13 and discussed potential risk factors in domestic and overseas markets and ways to properly respond to them. The expert group consisting of academia, columnists and thinktank officials discussed various issues including the need to find a new equilibrium in policy mix, deepening market volatilities, the need to manage risks in the nonbank sector, loan loss provisions of financial institutions and the shifting paradigm in global value chains. In his keynote address, Chairman Koh stated that maintaining stability in the financial system remains as top policy priority for this year. The following is a summary of Chairman Kohs remarks. Chairmans Remarks From the second half of 2021, the financial authorities have been working on measures to prepare for potential risks in markets. The Feds monetary policy changes, continuing pandemic situation, a slowdown in Chinas economic growth and dispute between the U.S. and China can have impact on the Korean economy and financial markets. In response to these potential risks, the authorities have made efforts to build foundations for easing financial imbalances by bringing down growths in new lending and housing prices. To build upon these outcomes, the authorities will first and foremost work on stable management of household debt. Unlike the previous year where the focus was on controlling the total quantity of household debt, the focus this year will be on making systemic improvements through an expanded application of the individual debt service ratio rule, etc. In the meantime, the authorities will ensure that credit extension to the financially vulnerable groups remains available. Second, the authorities will work to minimize negative effects on vulnerable debtors such as small merchants and self-employed business owners in the process of policy normalization. Looming interest rate hikes amid a continuing pandemic situation can place extra burdens
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Jan 13, 2022
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Jan 12, 2022
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Jan 12, 2022
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Jan 10, 2022
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Jan 06, 2022
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Jan 04, 2022
- API-based Financial MyData Service Fully Launched from January 5
- The FSC announced that the API-based financial MyData service will be fully launched from 16:00 (KST) January 5, after a month-long pilot period leading to improvements in the system. As of January 5, 2022, 33 MyData service providers including banks, financial investment businesses, card companies, savings banks, and fintechs will offer MyData services using standardized APIs.Additional 21 entities are expected to make their MyData services available in the first half of this year after getting their system ready. During the pilot period,the authorities along with the financial industry, fintechs and other relevant institutions have worked to bring about improvements in the system stability, data compatibility and consumer convenience. From a consumer standpoint, the API-based MyData service provides an enhanced level of data privacy and information security by placing a ban on scraping and requiring tech assessment tests and an annual inspection on system vulnerability. Financial consumers can also enjoy a greater level of convenience as more types of financial data can be accessed more quickly and easily at a single place. The API-only MyData scheme will allow MyData service providers to receive consumer data from the relevant data providing institutions more quickly and stably. The API-based MyData system will also provide an impetus for further innovation in business models as MyData service providers become connected to more types of data providers than before. From an industry-wide perspective, the API-based MyData system will help resolve the problem of data monopoly by broadening data access to fintechs and promoting competition. It will also help create quality jobs in the field of data science. The authorities will set up a special response team to ensure stable operation and provision of MyData services by conducting real-time monitoring and taking appropriate measures to guarantee consumer data privacy and security. The special response team will be exp
