Press Releases - Financial Services Commission

Press Releases

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Jan 21, 2025

Reform Plans for IPO and Delisting Rules

On January 21, the Financial Services Commission and related organizations including the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), Korea Exchange (KRX), Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA) and Korea Capital Market Institute (KCMI) held a joint seminar on improving initial public offering (IPO) and delisting rules, as part of the governments ongoing efforts for capital market reforms. At the seminar, the FSC unveiled reform plans for IPO and delisting rules and gathered feedback from various market participants. FSC Chairman Kim Byoung Hwan delivered his congratulatory remarks outlining the background and directions of the reform plans. The Chairman said that the market structural improvement is needed to boost the overall valuation of our capital market as the government has been pushing forward capital market reform initiatives since last year. Regulatory reforms on IPO and delisting rules will be pushed forward as another major task for the value-up initiatives, he emphasized. In regard with the IPO market, Chairman Kim said that reform plans will incentivize institutional investors to hold shares for a longer period under a lock-up commitment, which will help shift the IPO market more towards investments based on corporate value. Reforms will also strengthen the roles and responsibilities of underwriters for determining appropriate IPO prices and securing mid-to-long-term investors, he added. Regarding the delisting rules, Chairman Kim explained, the authorities will strengthen the requirements for companies to remain listed and streamline delisting procedures so that companies undermining market trust can be timely removed without delay. Along with this, Chairman Kim suggested that the government will consider overhauling the stock market structure to make it more efficient and provide stronger investor protection. We will seek differentiation and linkage between market segments so that companies can raise funds in the market tailored to their growth stage
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Dec 19, 2024

FSC and FSS Announce Measures to Ensure Market Stability and Bolster Support for the Real Economy

The Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service announced on December 19 a set of measures intended to ensure financial market stability and enhance the financial sectors capacity to support domestic businesses and the real economy in preparation for a potential expansion of market volatility caused by ongoing uncertainties at home and abroad. After having a series of market monitoring and industry group meetings with financial companies, the capacity enhancement measures for financial companies soundness, liquidity, and financial conditions have been drawn up well within the scope of international standards, such as the Basel III framework. First, the stress capital buffer requirement for banks that was initially set to be introduced this year will be postponed until the second half of 2025. Authorities will reexamine the exact timeline and method for introducing stress capital buffers in the first half of 2025. Second, with regard to the foreign exchange (FX) positions of banks, the non-hedgeable types of FX positions, such as investments on overseas branches that are not significantly exposed to the risk of short-term volatility in the FX market, will not be counted toward the calculation of their FX risk exposures. Third, when insurance companies make contributions to the stock market stabilization fund through purchase of the fund, the amount being calculated toward the risk exposure of their K-ICS (Korea Insurance Capital Standard) ratios will be reduced from the entire amount to half the amount. Moreover, the following measures have been prepared to lower the burden of financial companies in issuing loans and investing in domestic companies, thereby enhancing financial companies capacity to support domestic businesses and the real economy. Fourth, changes will be made to the 400 percent risk weight currently applied across the board on new technology investment funds, venture funds, and other types of investment association funds estab
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Dec 10, 2024

FSC Chairman Holds Meeting with Foreign Financial Companies

Chairman Kim Byoung Hwan of the Financial Services Commission met with officials from foreign financial companies on December 10 to have talks on recent political and economic situations in Korea and to assure that the Korean government has sufficient capacity to ensure stability in financial markets. At the meeting, Chairman Kim emphasized that despite increased political uncertainties, the countrys economic issues are being managed in a consistent and stable manner with the Deputy Prime Minister leading the governments economic team. Chairman Kim also said that the government has maintained a high level of preparedness for the implementation of market stabilization measures, and that key policy agendas, such as the soft-landing of the real estate project finance market, Corporate Value-up Program, and capital market reform initiatives, will continue to be pursued according to the previously set schedule. In this regard, Chairman Kim said that the government will make efforts to more closely communicate with foreign financial companies to provide adequate explanations about the ongoing situations and the governments plans. The officials from foreign financial companies attending todays meeting expressed a view that the current political situation will not significantly affect the fundamentals of the Korean economy or have negative impact on the economy on a continuing basis. They showed expectations that as long as the current political uncertainty is resolved quickly, financial markets will also return to stability in no time. However, to help ease short-term volatility in the stock market, participants also raised a view that it is necessary for institutional investors, such as pension funds, to play a more active role in the market. * Please refer to the attached PDF for details.
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Dec 10, 2024

Plan for Promoting the Benchmark Rate Reform in 2025

On December 10, the Financial Services Commission and the Bank of Korea held the 5th Benchmark Rate and Short-Term Financial Market Consultation with related organizations, such as the Financial Supervisory Service, the Korea Securities Depository, and the Korea Exchange, as well as academics and market experts, to discuss the Plan for Promoting Benchmark Rate Reform in 2025. Progress of Benchmark Rate Reform in 2024 The benchmark rate is an interest rate that is used to determine the value of money or financial instruments to be paid or exchanged as a result of a financial transaction. It is used to determine the profit or loss of financial transactions, evaluate investment performance, and generally represent the costof short-term financing for financial institution. In major countries, the global benchmark rate reform process, triggered by the LIBOR manipulation case in June 2012, firmly established the actual transaction-based risk-free rate (RFR) as the benchmark rate for financial transactions focusing on derivatives transactions. In 2020, Korea enacted the Act on the Management of Financial benchmarks in accordance with the recommendationsof international organizations such as the Financial Stability Board, and started calculating the Korea Overnight Financing Repo Rate (KOFR) as a critical benchmark rate in 2021. However, the efforts of the KOFR activation went slowly due to the need to prioritize financial market stability during the global liquidity reduction process that began in 2022. In 2024, the government and the Bank of Korea began discussions on revitalizing the KOFR based on stable market conditions and formed a joint public-private working group while strengthening communication with market participants. In August 2024, the government and the Bank of Korea announced the principle of transitioning to a KOFR-centered benchmark rate system. Since then, the working group has been discussing the strategy for activating KOFR and plans to implement the s
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Dec 09, 2024

FSC Holds Market Monitoring Meeting (Dec. 9)

Chairman Kim Byoung Hwan of the Financial Services Commission presided over a market monitoring meeting on December 9 with officials from the Financial Supervisory Service, five major financial holding companies, policy financial institutions, and related organizations and industry associations to check market situations and discuss response measures. The following is a summary of Chairman Kims opening remarks. A Summary of Chairmans Remarks At the Ministerial Meeting on Economic Affairs held yesterday, the government made an announcement that the economic team will spare no effort in ensuring a stable management of the economy despite looming uncertainties caused by recent political situations. In this regard, the FSC and the FSS will continue to do our parts and carry out our responsibilities in unwavering ways to ensure the maintenance of stability in our financial system and the external credibility in the financial sector. While continuing to maintain a real-time market monitoring system around the clock, authorities are prepared to promptly implement market stabilization measures when it becomes necessary, including a KRW10 trillion stock market stabilization fund, a KRW40 trillion bond market stabilization fund, the corporate bond and commercial paper (CP) purchase program, and the supply of foreign currency liquidity through the Korea Securities Finance Corporation. Meanwhile, authorities will seek to consistently pursue financial policy agendas according to the previously planned schedule. While ensuring a seamless implementation of the previously introduced measures, such as the Corporate Value-up Program, establishing a system designed to prevent illegal short sale activities, and granting a license to a new internet-only bank, authorities will keep pursuing the agendas that were slated for December, such as the measures to ease the financial burden of small merchants and self-employed business owners and the indemnity health insurance reform measures. To
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Nov 21, 2024

FSC Issues Prior Notice of Legislative Changes on Short Sale Regulations

The Financial Services Commission issued a prior notice of legislative changes regarding short sale regulations as a follow-up to the previously revised Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act (FSCMA) promulgated on October 22. The rule changes being proposed today address specific details that need to be stipulated under the revised FSCMA, which are expected to take effect from March 31, 2025 as follows(a) limiting the stock borrowing period for institutional investors, (b) introducing measures to prevent naked short sale through establishment of electronic net short position balance management system, internal control standards, and the securities companies verification duties, and (c) restricting short sellers from acquiring CBs (convertible bonds) and BWs (bonds with warrants) issued by the same company. Imposing a Limit on Institutional Investors Stock Repayment Period The stock repayment period for institutional investors should be determined by an agreement of both the lender and the borrower but should be limited to up to 12 months with 90-day repayment periods for renewal each time. However, exemptions are recognized in the case of delisting of stocks or trading suspension on the day of repayment, or when an account-to-account transfer (for bookkeeping entry at central securities depository) is being restricted. A violation of the repayment period may be subject to an administrative fine of KRW100 million for corporate investors and KRW50 million for retail investors. Introducing Measures Intended to Prevent Naked Short Sale Activities Corporate entities with an intention to engage in short sale of listed stocks need to take appropriate steps to prevent naked short sale in accordance with the revised FSCMA. All corporate entities should prepare internal control standards designed to prevent naked short sale. Their internal control standards should specify the role and responsibility of employees, item-by-item management of net short position b
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Nov 05, 2024

Disclosure Requirement on Net Short Position Balance to be Strengthened from December 1

The Financial Services Commission announced that a revision bill for the Enforcement Decree of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act (FSCMA) was approved by the government at the cabinet meeting held on November 5. This revision intended to strengthen the disclosure requirement on investors net short position balance is part of the comprehensive short sale reform measures announced on June 13, 2024. Pursuant to the revised Enforcement Decree, investors with a net short position balance of 0.01 percent (excluding those with less than KRW100 million) or KRW1 billion or more of total issuance volume will be newly required to disclose their net short position balances from December 1, 2024. Previously, only those with a net short position balance of 0.5 percent or more were subject to the disclosure requirement. Therefore, investors that will newly become subject to the disclosure requirementthose with a net short position balance of 0.01 percent or KRW1 billion or more but less than 0.5 percentwill begin to disclose their net short position balances from December 4. The government and relevant institutions have been working on comprehensive short sale reform measures in order to address the problem of illegal and unfair trading practices. Some of the reform agendas requiring no revision to legislation have already been put into place. On September 27, the supervisory regulation on financial investment businesses was revised to bring down the cash collateral ratio of retail investors when borrowing stocks to 105 percent, which is the same level in place for institutional investors. The reduced cash collateral ratio for retail investors is expected to become effective from March 31, 2025. For market makers and liquidity providers, their stock borrowing period has been already limited to maximum 12 months with 90-day extensions each time through system upgrades made at the securities lending institutions (Korea Securities Depository and Korea Securitie
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Sep 26, 2024

Revisions to FSCMA Expected to Bring About Major Improvements to Short Sale Regulations

The Financial Services Commission announced that a revision bill of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act (FSCMA) intended to upgrade rules on short sale was passed by the National Assembly at the plenary session held on September 26. The passage of the revised FSCMA by the National Assembly officially brings within legal purview the short sale reform measures that have been sought by the government since the decision to ban short sale was introduced in November last year amid concerns about frequent occurrences of naked short sale activities and their disruptive effects on markets fair pricing function. Under the revised FSCMA, institutional investors will be required to set up their own electronic short sale processing system, while both institutional and corporate investors will need to prepare relevant internal control standards. For institutional investors, there will be a new restriction on the stock repayment period for borrowed stocks. Monetary penalties that can be imposed on unfair trading and illegal short sale activities will be strengthened, and new sanctions mechanisms will be introducedsuch as a ban on trading financial investment products and restriction from being appointed or serving as an executive at listed companiesto enhance the effectiveness of punishment and sanctions. Background Since the announcement of the short sale reform proposal on June 13 this year, the FSC and related organizations have been swiftly working on follow-up measures. Prior to making revisions to the legislation, authorities have been proactively working to prepare for establishing an electronic short sale processing and monitoring system and limiting the stock repayment period for institutional investors. Since August, the Korea Exchange (KRX) has been working to set up Naked Short-selling Detecting System (NSDS), which is designed to detect and identify naked short sale activities based on the records of short sale orders transmitted by institutional
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Aug 05, 2024

FSC Chairman Holds Meeting and Emphasizes Importance of Comprehensive Efforts to Manage Debt Risks

Chairman Kim Byoung Hwan of the Financial Services Commission held a meeting with macroeconomic and financial market experts on August 5 to review financial risks in four specific sectors, which include debt risks in the household, real estate project finance, and small business sectors, and the soundness of the nonbanking sector, and discussed ways to effectively manage these risks. The following is a summary of Chairman Kims remarks at the meeting. A Summary of Chairmans Remarks Current economic conditions at home and abroad appear to be reaching an inflection point, shown by recent monetary policy decisions in major economies, economic forecasts in the U.S., and domestic housing market situation. Against this backdrop, it is necessary to strengthen our efforts to examine and respond to market risks. While focusing our efforts to promptly and closely manage debt risks in four specific areas, which have been accumulated from the past, it is also essential to take steps to preemptively manage newly emerging risk factors. As there exist concerns about the weakening of the U.S. economy, major stock markets around the world have tumbled recently.Therefore, it is also necessary to maintain close monitoring over volatility in stock markets. The government is focused on working to bolster our stock markets resilience and establish a more credible and reliable market environment for investors by seeking structural improvements over a medium- to long-term. To this end, the government will continue to make efforts to ensure seamless implementation of the Corporate Value-up Program and short sale reform measures. Along the same lines, the government will continue to work on tax support measures that can help to boost investments in the domestic stock market. The relatively high levels of debt-to-GDP ratioand reliance on debt make domestic financial system vulnerable to external shocks. In order to ensure sustainable growth and make our economy more resilient and to guarantee
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Jul 22, 2024

Vice Chairman Visits London to Promote Capital Market Reform Programs and Strengthen Bilateral Cooperation

Vice Chairman Kim Soyoung of the Financial Services Commission visited London, the United Kingdom (UK) from July 16 to 19 in an effort to promote Koreas capital market reform and corporate value-up programs to global investors and to strengthen financial cooperation between Korea and the UK. IR with Global Investors On July 17, Vice Chairman Kim held an investor relations event for global investors and provided key information about the progress of Koreas capital market reform initiatives aimed at boosting market accessibility, guaranteeing fairness and transparency in market transactions, and enhancing shareholder values. In this regard, Vice Chairman Kim provided detailed information about the opening up of the foreign exchange (FX) market, plans to introduce an alternative trading system (ATS), short sale reform measures, and the corporate value-up program. UK-Korea Financial Forum On July 17, Vice Chairman Kim also attended the UK-Korea Financial Forum and delivered a congratulatory speech. In his remarks, Vice Chairman Kim talked about the importance of maintaining strong cooperation with the UK to effectively respond to various challenges and opportunities presented by shifting global market environment, such as technological advance and climate change. Meeting with Lord Mayor of the City of London On July 18, Vice Chairman Kim held a meeting with Lord Mayor Michael Mainelli of the City of London and exchanged views on key issues surrounding major elections around the world this year and policies to promote global financial hubs in both countries. At the meeting, Vice Chairman Kim took time to explain Koreas key financial policies, such as open banking, establishing a loan transfer infrastructure to facilitate refinancing of personal loans at lower interest rates, introducing financial MyData service, adopting guidelines on ESG disclosure, and so on. Meeting with FTSE Russell Following the meeting with the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Vice Chairman Kim vi
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Jul 03, 2024

SFC Imposes Penalty Surcharges on Global Investment Banks for Violating Short Sale Regulations

The Securities and Futures Commission, a sub-commission within the Financial Services Commission responsible for overseeing the securities and futures markets, held the thirteenth regular meeting on July 3 and decided to impose penalty surcharges amounting to KRW27.173 billion in total on two former Credit Suisse affiliated investment banks for violating short sale regulations under the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act (FSCMA). The level of penalty surcharge imposed on each of the two former Credit Suisse affiliated entities is the largest (KRW16.94 billion on Credit Suisse AG) and the third largest (KRW10.23 billion on Credit Suisse Singapore Ltd.) ever since the penalty surcharge system began to be implemented on naked short sale activities in April 2021. In the case of Credit Suisse AG (currently UBS AG), from April 7, 2021 to June 9, 2022, the investment bank was found to have engaged in naked short sales in the amount of about KRW60.33 billion (162,365 shares on 20 stock items) without possessing these stocks at the time of placing short sale orders. In the case of Credit Suisse Singapore Ltd., from November 29, 2021 to June 9, 2022, the investment bank was found to have engaged in naked short sales in the amount of about KRW35.28 billion (401,195 shares on five stock items) without possessing these stocks at the time of placing short sale orders. In addition, prior to todays meeting, the SFC decided to impose administrative fines worth KRW284.2 million in total on four domestic financial investment businesses, two foreign financial investment businesses, and an individual investor for violating their net short position balance reporting and disclosure duties under the FSCMA. The financial authorities will continue to strictly deal with naked short selling and other unfair trading activities in capital market to promote soundness in market transactions. * Please refer to the attached PDF for details.
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Jun 13, 2024

Short Sale Ban Extended Until March 30, 2025

The Financial Services Commission held an extraordinary session on June 13 and decided to extend the period of enforcing short sale ban currently set to expire at the end of this month until March 30, 2025. However, covered short selling by market makers and liquidity providers will continue to be allowed in the same way as before. On November 5, 2023, the FSC decided to ban short selling in domestic stock markets against the backdrop of growing market uncertainties and the uncovering of large-scale illegal short sale activities carried out by global investment banks, leading to concerns about disruption in fair pricing function and undermining trust in the capital market. Since then, the government and related authorities carried out investigations into the situation and found out cases of naked short sale activities amounting to some KRW211.2 billion. At the same time, the authorities have worked to seek fundamental solutions to overhaul the system to prevent illegal short sale activities. To this end, until the end of March 2025, the authorities plan to set up a completely electronic short sale processing system that can prevent naked short selling. First, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) will provide relevant guidelines to ensure that institutional investors can set up their own internal short position balance management system within this year. The Korea Exchange (KRX) plans to finish up developing the Naked Short-selling Detection System (NSDS) by the end of March 2025, which will function as a central monitoring system allowing authorities to compare and scrutinize the balance and over-the-counter (OTC) transactions information of institutional investors. The FSC expects that resuming short selling activities without the establishment of such electronic processing and monitoring systems risks the recurrence of illegal short sale activities in large scale. Therefore, to establish the electronic short sale processing and monitoring systems that can help
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Jun 13, 2024

Short Sale Reform Measures Introduced to Prevent Illegal Trading Activities and Protect Investors

The Financial Services Commission announced the finalized version of short sale reform measures on June 13, which include plans to establish a completely electronic short sale processing system until March 2025, limit the length of stock repayment period for both institutional investors and retail investors to maximum 12 months, and strengthen the severity of penalties on illegal short sale activities when the amount of unfairly gained profits is KRW5 billion or more. In November 2023, the FSC decided to ban short selling in domestic stock markets (until the end of June 2024), because authorities became concerned about naked short selling activities taking place routinely, which could potentially disrupt domestic stock markets fair pricing function. Since then, public debates and discussions have taken place to make improvements to the short selling system, and the ruling party and the government held a consultative meeting to announce the finalized set of reform measures on June 13. Background On November 16, 2023, the FSC introduced its plan to seek short sale reform measures at the meeting held with representatives from the private sector, the ruling party of the National Assembly, and related authorities. The issue of developing an electronic short sale processing system, which was discussed multiple times previously, has been thoroughly dealt with in taskforce meetings jointly led by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and the Korea Exchange (KRX). After having active communication with market participants, including foreign investors, the authorities have come up with a set of practical measures for developing an electronic short sale processing system. In addition, the authorities have had a series of meetings and discussions with experts, industry representatives, and the public to collect wide-ranging opinions on the overall stock short sale system before arriving at this finalized set of reform measures. Meanwhile, the authorities have continued to mak
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May 13, 2024

FSC and FSS Announce Measures to Seek an Orderly Soft-landing in the Real Estate Project Finance Market

The Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service announced measures to seek an orderly soft-landing in the real estate project finance market on May 13, expanding upon the series of previously introduced measures aimed at stabilizing the market. Background Since the second half of 2022, the government has been working to facilitate an orderly soft-landing in the real estate project finance market through various market stabilization programs designed to stabilize financial markets, such as the PF-ABCP (project finance asset-backed commercial paper) market and bond market, and by providing funding support to the development projects that are considered to be financially viable, while encouraging restructuring or liquidation of projects that are deemed to be unviable. Corporate bond spreads, which stood at 109 bps at the end of September 2022, rose quickly to 177.2 bps on December 1, 2022 due to market anxieties about PF-ABCPs. However, as the government and the private sector actively took steps to respond in a timely manner, by introducing the corporate bond market stabilization fund and the PF-ABCP purchase program, bond market conditions began to stabilize since after January 2023, and corporate bond spreads as of the end of April 2024 stood at 46.6 bps. Spreads on commercial paper (CP) also spiked to 240 bps on November 23, 2022, but have come down to the recent level of 68 bps, showing signs that financial market conditions have returned to stability. To facilitate funding of the development projects that are operating on solid financial grounds, the government introduced a project finance guarantee program worth KRW30 trillion in October 2022, from which about KRW18 trillion has been implemented thus far in support for projects making a transition from bridge loans to project finance loans. Along this line, in September 2023, various lending support programs were also introduced to assist construction companies via policy financial instit
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May 09, 2024

Authorities Introduce ATS Operation Plan to Promote Improvement in Capital Market Infrastructure

The Financial Services Commission announced that Koreas first alternative trading system (ATS), Nextrade, will begin to operate in domestic market starting in the first half of next year. This will mark the operation of a multiple and competition-based stock trading system in Koreas capital market as in the case with those found in major overseas economies. Introducing an ATS has been a key part of the governments capital market reform initiative, and it is intended to make domestic capital market more accessible for investors with enhanced convenience for transactions. With the operation of an ATS, stock trading hours will be extended to twelve hours a day from 08:00 am to 08:00 pm. Also, as more order types will become available for investors with enhanced competition to help lower fees, transaction costs will be reduced and trading convenience improved for investors. Seminar on ATS Operation Plan The FSC held a seminar on the measures for operating ATS with the Korea Financial Investment Association, Korea Exchange (KRX), and Nextrade on May 9. As the preliminary approval for operating an ATS was granted to Nextrade in July 2023, the FSC and related organizations have since worked on the measures for ATS operation and plans for ensuring effective market oversight in a comprehensive and integrated manner. At todays seminar, the authorities unveiled the measures and held discussions with market participants. FSC Vice Chairman Kim Soyoung delivered congratulatory remarks at the beginning of the seminar and emphasized the importance of ensuring stability and fairness in market management. Vice Chairman Kim also asked participants to thoroughly prepare for the official launch of an ATS and to ensure that investors are kept posted with relevant information. In addition, Vice Chairman Kim said that the financial authorities will work to prepare guidelines and revise relevant rules and regulations necessary for the operation of an ATS. A New Stock Trading Experience With
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Apr 30, 2024

FSC to Promote Investment in Climate Technology Sector

Chairman Kim Joo-hyun of the Financial Services Commission attended the technology fund agreement ceremony on April 30. This agreement ceremony is a second follow-up measure for expanded financial support measures for climate crisis response after its first follow-up measure the ceremony for the establishment of the Future Energy Fund, which supplies venture capital for the expansion of renewable energy facilities, including offshore wind power. The FSC plans to invest a total amount of KRW9 trillion in the climate technology sector through its various funds like Innovation Growth Fund and Growth Ladder Fund. Among those funds stands the Climate Technology Fund, which Industrial Bank of Korea and five major commercial banks are to commit a total of KRW1.05 trillion into its master fund by 2023, and invest KRW3 trillion in climate technology companies through private capital matching. The master fund is managed by Korea Growth Finance. Chairman Kim stated, Climate technology is both a means to achieve carbon neutrality and a future source of sustenance."He added, "The government and private sector together have come up with the plan for investing a total of KRW9 trillion in the climate technology sector by sector by 2030, including the Climate Technology Fund." Chairman Kim also emphasized that the Climate Technology Fund will be mandated to put a certain ratio of its investments into SMEs and venture companies possessing climate technology to ensure that funds are appropriately allocated. He also urged the Climate Technology Fund to actively seek out investment opportunities and serve as patient capital to support the growth of the climate technology sector, which faces significant uncertainties and challenges in achieving short-term results. The Climate Technology Fund plans to establish the master fund during the first half of the year, select the managers for the feeder funds, and complete the formation of these funds by early next year to commence investment. *
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Apr 22, 2024

Taskforce on ESG Finance Holds Meeting and Discusses Key Details of ESG Disclosure Standards

The Financial Services Commission held the 4th taskforce meeting on ESG (environmental, social and governance) finance with related ministries, industry groups, investors, and experts on April 22 to have discussions on details of an open draft on domestic ESG disclosure standards. FSC Vice Chairman Kim Soyoung presided over the meeting and outlined basic principles and key details of the draft standards. A Summary of Vice Chairmans Remarks First, this open draft on domestic ESG disclosure standards is consistent with global standards as it amply takes into account cases from overseas. In this regard, the draft standards have been formulated to ensure interoperability with the ESG disclosure standards of other major countries to minimize the burden of redundant disclosure duties for domestic businesses. In addition, the draft standards will mandate climate-related disclosures first, while keeping the disclosure of information on other non-climate-related ESG elements on a voluntary basis. Second, the draft standards have been prepared to provide quality information to investors. Instead of simply requiring businesses to list up relevant data on climate risks and opportunities, the draft standards will actually promote behavioral change from businesses through a more systematic provision of information disclosures based on important categories, such as governance structure, strategy, risk management process, and so on. Third, the draft standards also take into account the needs of enterprises and ensure that there is no excessive burden placed on them. Considering domestic firms capabilities and level of preparedness, authorities will provide detailed guidelines and allow companies to disclose qualitative informationinstead of quantitative datafor certain types of indicators prone to a large degree of subjectivity in their measurement. This open draft on ESG disclosure standards also takes into consideration the need for our economy to address some of the newly emergi
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Apr 01, 2024

KRW11 Trillion-plus in Corporate Financing Support from the Banking Sector to be Provided to MMEs and SMEs

The Financial Services Commission announced that corporate financing support programs for middle market enterprises (MMEs) and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will begin to be provided from the banking sector from April 1. This is a part of the total KRW76 trillion-plus corporate financing measures announced in last February, made available by close cooperation between policy financial institutions and five major commercial banks. First, the Korea Development Bank (KDB) and five major commercial banks will provide KRW6 trillion in low interest rate loans exclusively for MMEs that are attempting to enter into new growth sectors and expand their business operation. Qualified MMEs are eligible to receive up to KRW150 billion per business for facilities investment, funding for research and development, and operating costs with the benefit of 1%p reduction in interest rates. Qualified MMEs should meet the industry and/or production requirement specified by the common criteria for innovative growth, which lay out specific industry areas and products qualified for policy funding support for innovative growth. Second, the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) and five major commercial banks will provide about KRW5 trillion in interest support program for SMEs that are operating on a normal financial condition but are having difficulties with heavy interest burdens. In this regard, qualified SMEsthose with loans with interest rates of more than 5.0 percentare eligible to receive up to 5 percent reduction in interest rates for one year. When qualified SMEs apply for this interest support program with their lenders, their qualification will be verified by the lender, and they can choose to receive the interest reduction benefit for one year either immediately or from the time of refinancing. Third, the prompt liquidity support program made available for SMEs from the banking sector will be operated on an expanded basis. The liquidity support program was first introduced by
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Mar 27, 2024

Government to Ensure Provision of Financial Support for Vulnerable Sectors

The Financial Services Commission announced the governments plan to ensure provision of financial support intended to help improve conditions for vulnerable sectors on March 27. To reduce the financing burden of SMEs and small merchants and boost their operating conditions, the following measures have been prepared. First, for SMEs, KRW41.6 trillion in funding support will begin to be provided from April, and additional guarantee support (KRW1.7 trillion) for small merchants will also be sought after through coordination between related ministries. Second, banks will continue to work on making sure that their own interest refund programs for small merchants amounting to about KRW1.5 trillion are being implemented seamlessly. Interest refunds from nonbanks, amounting to about KRW300 billion, will begin to be paid out from the end of March. Borrowers with high interest rate loans (7% or higher interest rates) will have opportunities to switch to lower interest rate loans. In addition, the banking sector plans to make available KRW600 billion more in financing support for vulnerable groups from April. Banks will make contributions to relevant agencies in support for lower income households and small merchants. Third, there will be steady provision of support for small merchants to help them recover and regain footing through debt adjustment (New Start Fund) and credit recovery support. As of the end of February 2024, about 175,000 individuals have already benefited from this credit recovery support program, with their credit scores increased by an average of 102 points. To ensure stability in the housing market, the government will bolster support for project financed real estate development projects and actively seek to resolve difficulties of construction firms through a private-public joint effort. First, additional support in the form of loan guarantees amounting to a total of KRW9 trillion is newly planned for property developments under PF loans (KRW5 trillion) a
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Feb 27, 2024

FSC Vice Chairman Holds Investor Relations in Singapore and Introduces the Corporate Value-up Program

Vice Chairman Kim Soyoung of the Financial Services Commission held an investor relations event in Singapore with major institutional investors from Asia participating on February 27. During the dialogue, Vice Chairman Kim outlined the governments capital market reform initiatives with a particular attention on the recently announced Corporate Value-up Program, which have gained much interest from both domestic and overseas investors. The following is a summary of Vice Chairman Kims remarks. The Korean governments capital market reform measures have been focused on the following three areas. First, to establish a fair and transparent market order, the government has bolstered measures against unfair trading activities. A temporary ban on short-selling has been put in place to make trading conditions more equal for both retail and institutional investors and to build a completely electronic short-selling transaction system designed to prevent naked short-selling activities. Second, to make Koreas capital markets more accessible to investors, the authorities have already abolished the foreign investors registration requirement, mandated companies to file disclosures in English in phases, and eased the reporting requirement to facilitate the use of omnibus account. To help expand domestic investor base, the government has already decided to repeal the planned introduction of capital gains tax on financial investments and plans to expand tax benefits for individual savings accounts (ISAs). Third, to promote shareholder values in corporate management practices, the government has been consistently working on various measures aimed at protecting the rights of general shareholders. As a consequence, many large companies have now adopted the improved dividend payout procedure in which investors are able to make investment decisions while knowing how much they will receive in dividends. In addition, the Corporate Value-up Program, which was unveiled on February 26, is design
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