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Nov 23, 2023
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Nov 08, 2023
- Government and Related Authorities Hold Meeting on Household Debt Situation
- The Financial Services Commission held a meeting with officials from the relevant government ministries and organizations on November 8 and discussed the current household debt situation and various measures to ensure effective management. Regarding the October household loans data announced earlier today, the participants had a positive assessment about the slowing trend of mortgage loans, despite an overall increase in the size of household loans from the previous month. To continue to ensure a stable management of household loans, the authorities agreed on the need to strengthen relevant measures as follows. First, the authorities will bolster rules on debt service ratio (DSR) by closely reviewing the areas that are currently being exempted from DSR regulation and look into ways to gradually expand the application of DSR rule. The stressed DSR limit that is currently being reviewed for application on variable interest rate loans is expected to be announced in December this year with specific details. Second, the authorities will come up with stronger incentive structures that can reward banks to more actively and voluntarily introduce long-term, fixed interest rate mortgage loans by overhauling a relevant administrative guidance. The authorities will also seek to provide more incentives for covered bonds, which serve as a mechanism for banks to fund long-term, fixed rate loans. Third, the authorities will continue to keep close tabs on the trends of household loan growth across all financial sectors. Fourth, the authorities will work with financial sectors to come up with various ways to help reduce the burden of repayment and high interest rate for borrowers, for instance, by offering a temporary exemption from early repayment charges. At the meeting, FSC Secretary General Lee Se-hoon said that as it is difficult to achieve short-term results when it comes to containing household debt, the government will make efforts with a long-term perspective to build an inc
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Oct 18, 2023
- FSC Holds Meeting to Check Financial Market Situation
- The Financial Services Commission held a meeting with the Financial Supervisory Service and industry representatives on October 18 to review financial market situations, potential risk factors and ways to handle them, chaired by FSC Vice Chairman Kim So-young. At the meeting, the authorities shared the same view that there are ongoing risk factors in financial markets due to the possibility of continuing high interest rates caused by a prolonged policy tightening in the U.S. and uncertainties surrounding the Israel-Hamas conflict. Therefore, the FSC, the FSS and financial industry groups agreed to maintain strong communication and cooperation. Despite these downside external risks, Vice Chairman Kim said that the domestic financial market conditions appear to be stable and that it is very unlikely that market situation will abruptly turn unstable as in the previous year since there are less uncertainties about the interest rate expectation in major economies and the financial institutions liquidity and risk management conditions have been improved compared to a year ago. However, as it is always possible that an external shocksuch as the one caused by the Israel-Hamas warcan deepen market anxiety when combined with vulnerabilities in domestic markets, Vice Chairman Kim said that it is necessary to continue to proactively deal with the vulnerable areas in domestic financial markets. With regard to the uncertainties surrounding the Israel-Hamas conflict, Vice Chairman Kim urged financial institutions to stay vigilant and secure a sufficient level of foreign currency liquidity to be adequately prepared. At the meeting, the authorities also discussed ways to avert excessive money moves in the financial sectors in the final three months of the year as competition to win over more deposits toward the end of the year led to market instability last year. In this regard, from September this year, the FSC and the FSS held a series of meetings with the financial sectors to che
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Sep 05, 2023
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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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Jun 20, 2023
- Authorities Review Market Situation and Discuss Rollback of Eased Regulatory Measures
- The Financial Services Commission held a meeting with the Financial Supervisory Service, the Bank of Korea and financial industry associations on June 20 to check current market situation and discuss the progress of market stabilization measures and the operation of eased financial regulations. With financial market conditions stabilizing, demand for market stabilization programs remains not so high currently. However, to be prepared for uncertainties at home and abroad, authorities already made an agreement on continuing to make the PF-ABCP (project finance asset backed commercial paper) purchase program available until the end of February 2024 for PF-ABCPs guaranteed by securities firms.Market stabilization programs including the bond market stabilization fund and the corporate bond and CP purchase program currently have KRW35 trillion in their remaining capacity, which provides an ample room to respond in the future in the case of market instability. In addition, authorities are closely monitoring the real estate PF market and taking necessary steps to help normalize the projects considered to be facing the risk of default. In this regard, the real estate PF lending institutions consortium agreement was activated to ensure an orderly normalization of at-risk projects. Regarding the temporary easing of regulations applied on banks, insurers, savings banks, specialized credit finance businesses and financial investment businesses since after October of last year and extended partially in March 2023, participants evaluated that financial institutions are currently capable of responding to risks without the support made available by additional extension. However, to be prepared for potential expansion of uncertainties in the future, participants agreed on extending the availability of eased regulations for certain areas. As such, the eased regulations on banks loan-to-deposit ratio, credit offering limit between subsidiaries of a financial holding company and insuran
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Jun 05, 2023
- Foreign Investor Registration Requirement to be Abolished in Korea
- The government approved a revision bill of the Enforcement Decree of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act (FSCMA) abolishing the foreign investors registration requirement at a cabinet meeting held on June 5. The foreign investor registration system, which has been in place for about three decades since 1992, will be abolished starting from December 14 this year, six months after promulgation of the revised law which is expected to be on June 13. Under the foreign investor registration system, foreign investors had to register with the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) prior to investing in locally listed securities (stocks, bonds, etc.). For foreign investors, opening an investment account at a securities firm was possible only after registering with the authority and being assigned a registration certificate (foreign investor ID). As this process can be time-consuming and requires much paperwork, this rule was pointed out as a significant barrier for foreign investors in investing in Korean stock markets. Moreover, this kind of registration requirement for foreign investors is not being implemented in major advanced economies such as the U.S. and Japan. Thus, from the perspective of making Korean regulations more consistent with global standards, global investors have made continuous calls for the need to change this rule. Introduced in 1992 to manage foreign investors maximum investment limit, the foreign investor registration system has been in place for the past three decades without much change despite the fact that the foreigners investment limit was abolished in 1998 in principle, leaving only 33 items under the authorities watch for foreigners total holding limit and two items for foreign individual holding limit out of some 2,500 listed companies currently. Once the revised Enforcement Decree of the FSCMA takes effect, foreign investors will be able to open investment accounts at securities firms without having to go through a prior
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May 25, 2023
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May 08, 2023
- FSC Introduces Measures to Facilitate Corporate Merger and Acquisition Activities
- The FSC announced a set of measures aimed at facilitating corporate merger and acquisition activities on May 8. In the second half of this year, the FSC also plans to announce additional policy agenda items for facilitating corporate MA activities through coordination with the Ministry of Justice. Corporate MAs are an important mechanism to boost management efficiency and reorganize the structure of an enterprise. They also help to increase the overall productivity of an economy as well as its recovery from a downturn. However, the corporate MA market saw a significant decline recently due mainly to the worsening of macroeconomic conditions. Against this backdrop, the FSC prepared plans to (a) seek regulatory improvements on corporate MAs, (b) strengthen support for corporate restructuring through MAs, (c) support strategic MA activities in line with industrial restructuring demand, and (d) make domestic rules on corporate MAs more congruent with global standards. Key Details Seek regulatory improvements on corporate MAs to propel growth momentum Authorities plan to make improvements to some of the regulations that have been identified as unreasonable including those on public tender offer, corporate mergers and credit offering by investment banks. First, when making a public takeover bid, the burden of securing funds beforehand will be eased. A loan commitment from a trustworthy acquiring financial institution or an investment agreement from a limited partner will be recognized as an admissible document showing financial capability of a tender offeror. Second, in a spin-off or a post-spin-off merger, the process of converting CBs (convertible bonds) and BWs (bonds with warrants) will be streamlined as the electronic securities depository (Korea Securities Depository) will be allowed to get investor information directly from securities firms and process conversion of CBs and BWs electronically. Third, investment banks will be able to more actively offer credit to bu
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Apr 03, 2023
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Mar 27, 2023
- Application of Temporarily Eased Financial Regulations to be Available until June 2023
- The FSC held a meeting with the FSS and financial industry associations on March 27 to check financial market conditions and the liquidity and soundness conditions of financial institutions and discussed extending the availability of temporarily eased financial regulations put in place since October last year. Temporary Market Stabilization Measures Expiration Schedule (Oct. 2022~) a) Banks: Postponement of normalization of liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) (92.5%, until end-June 2023), temporary easing of loan-to-deposit ratio (105%, until end-April 2023) b) Insurance companies: Temporary easing of cap on borrowing from retirement pension special accounts (until end-March 2023) c) Savings banks: Temporary easing of loan-to-deposit ratio (110%, until end-April 2023) d) Specialized credit finance businesses: Temporary easing of KRW-based currency liquidity ratio by 10%p (until end-March 2023), temporary easing of the creditable assets to real estate project finance exposure ratio by 10%p (until end-March 2023) e) Financial investment businesses: Postponement on downsizing (from 12% to 8%) the cap on the amount of bonds (issued by specialized credit finance businesses) that can be included when hedging risks associated with equity-linked securities (ELS) under management (until end-March 2023), easing of net capital ratio risk weight when purchasing project finance asset-backed commercial papers (PF-ABCPs) guaranteed by own company (until end-June 2023) f) Financial holding companies: Easing of cap on credit extension between their own subsidiaries (until end-June 2023) Extended Availability of Eased Regulations With regard to the temporary easing of financial regulations applied since October last year on banks, insurance companies, savings banks, specialized credit finance businesses and financial investment firms, considering that there are lingering uncertainties in financial markets at home and abroad, authorities decided to extend the availability of deregulatory m
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Mar 16, 2023
- Prudential Regulations on Banks to be Revamped for Improving Loss Absorbing Capacity
- The FSC and the FSS discussed the plans for bolstering capital adequacy and loan loss reserve requirements in the banking sector to improve banks loss absorbing capacity, as part of the agenda at the 3rd working group meeting of the taskforce on improving the management and operating practices of banks and banking system held on March 15. Background The banking sector, whose soundness remained in good shape even in the pandemic situation, has faced with growing uncertainties since interest rates sharply increased and the won-dollar exchange rates surged in 2022. (Capital Adequacy) As of the end of September 2022, the CET1 (common equity tier 1) capital ratio stood at 12.26 percent, which is well above a minimum CET1 capital ratio requirement (7.0 to 8.0 percent), but is lowered than 12.99 percent at the end of 2021 due to the impact of losses on bond portfolio, etc. When compared to major economies,the capital adequacy remains relatively low, and banks recent moves to expand dividends are likely to lead to a further decline in their capital ratios in the future. (Asset Soundness) The delinquency rate on bank loans, which had fallen during the pandemic, is gradually edging upprimarily led by the household sector, due to recent increases in loan interest rates, etc. In order to ensure sufficient loss absorbing capacity of the banking sector in preparation for future uncertainties, authorities plan to improve prudential regulations on banks (capital adequacy and loan loss reserve requirements) for preemptive risk management. Measures to Revamp Prudential Regulations in Banking Sector I. Improvement of Capital Adequacy Requirement a) Imposition of Countercyclical Capital Buffer (CCyB) (As Is) CCyB was introduced in 2016 as part of the Basel III capital regulations but the level of CCyB remains zero percent until now. As the amount of credit rapidly increased from the second half of 2019, there were signals in which banks were supposed to accumulate CCyB. However, due to
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Mar 06, 2023
- FSC Holds Meeting to Review Corporate Bond and Money Market Situation and Real Estate PF Risks
- The FSC held a meeting with relevant authorities to review the corporate bond and short-term money market situation and risks in the real estate project finance (PF) market on March 6.At the meeting, authorities discussed (a) the current corporate bond and money market trends, (b) direction for addressing risks in the real estate PF market, (c) direction to revise the inter-creditor agreement in real estate PF, and (d) measures to support private sector-led real estate PF restructuring. Inspection Results on Corporate Bond and Money Market At todays meeting, participants assessed that the corporate bond and money markets are showing clear signs of recovering from the contraction seen in the second half of last year. Corporate bond spreads have narrowed since the end of November last year,and demands for issuing corporate bonds are being smoothly absorbed in the market as the volume of non-financial corporate bonds issued in last January and February surpassed the amount of bonds reaching maturity.In the money market, interest rates on commercial papers (CPs) have continued to declinedue to the turnaround in liquidity conditions, and those on PF-ABCPs (project finance asset backed commercial papers) also appear to be on decline, compared to the end of last year. However, it is necessary to watch over market situations with vigilance because interest rates on PF-ABCPs with rating of A2 or lower still remain high, and as the issuance of corporate debts with shorter term maturities is taking place more frequently. Meanwhile, there still remain high uncertainties around financial markets this year, as it is forecast that the U.S. will continue to maintain its current tightening stance for longer with the help of its strong economic indicators and the higher-than-expected price indices and the war between Russian and Ukraine and the friction between the U.S and China continue. Therefore, participants agreed to continuously monitor the volatility of corporate bond and mone
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Jan 30, 2023
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Jan 25, 2023
- FSC Announces Measures to Improve Foreign Investors' Access to Korean Capital Markets
- The FSC announced on January 25 a set of measures intended to improve foreign investors access to Korean capital markets by seeking bold improvements of the regulations that have been impediments to global investors investments in Korean markets. The measures include (a) abolishing the foreign investor registration requirement, (b) facilitating the use of omnibus account for foreign investors, (c) enabling more convenient OTC transactions by foreign investors and (d) expanding English disclosures in phases. Authorities expect that these measures will enhance the investment environment for foreigners on a par with international standards, which will provide important grounds to boost foreign investment in Korean markets. Background The foreign investor registration system and the constraints on foreign investors OTC (over-the-counter) transactions were introduced in 1992 when authorities began to allow foreign investors to invest in locally-listed stocks. While permitting foreigners to invest in locally-listed stocks, authorities established the total foreign investment cap and individual foreign investor cap of 10 percent and 3 percent, respectively, for each investment item, and began to require prior registration for foreign investors as well as to restrict their OTC transactions to monitor their observance. With the abolishment of foreign investors stock holding limit for ordinary companies in 1998, there currently exist foreign investors stock holding limits placed on only 33 items in key industries among 2,500 listed companies. However, the foreign investor registration system has continued to exist for the past three decades without a significant change. In addition, authorities introduced omnibus account for foreign investors in 2017 to provide a convenient way to invest in Korean markets, but it has not been utilized ever since its inception. The availability of English disclosures, which serve as essential information for foreign investors decisions on inve
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Jan 12, 2023
- Authorities Hold Meeting to Monitor Financial Market Situation and Discuss Stabilization Measures
- FSC Vice Chairman Kim So-young presided over a meeting with the Financial Supervisory Service and policy financial institutions on January 12 to check the corporate bond and CP (commercial paper) market situations and discuss the effects of market stabilization measures currently in place as well as the support plan for 2023. At todays meeting, participants shared a common assessment that the corporate bond and CP market conditions have been improving recently as interest rates on corporate bonds and CPs are continuing to decline, and in particular, as the level of purchase demand surpassed the volume of newly issued higher-grade corporate bonds and CPs.Also, in order to ensure that recent market movement toward stability can become sturdier, authorities agreed on the need to maintain active implementation of the market stabilization programs, and shared a common view on the need to boost the effectiveness of support on higher-grade corporate bonds and CPs and strengthen support for non-higher-grade corporate bonds and CPs, so that the movement toward stability can spread to non-higher-grade corporate bonds and CPs as well. The market stabilization programs introduced last year still have a total of KRW40 trillion or more in their support capacity, and thus, authorities will continue to actively put them into use going forward. a) The bond market stabilization fund currently has about KRW6.4 trillion in its remaining capacity (additional capital call of KRW9 trillion possible), and it will continue to reinforce market demand for higher-grade corporate bonds, while authorities consider an expansion of both the target and the size of purchase. b) The corporate bond and CP purchase program run by the Korea Development Bank (KDB) and Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) currently has about KRW7.6 trillion in its remaining capacity, and it will continue to actively operate to purchase corporate bonds and CPs with a focus on non-higher-grade ones. c) The P-CBO (primary collater
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Dec 19, 2022
- Authorities Meet with Banks to Discuss Resumption of Bank Bond Issuance
- The FSC held a meeting with the related authoritiesand the banking sector on December 19 to examine the banking sectors lending and borrowing situation and discuss resumption of bank bond issuance. At the meeting, participants shared a common assessment that financial markets such as the bond market and foreign exchange market are gradually returning back to stabilityas a result of expectations for a slower pace of monetary tightening at home and abroad, as well as the government and financial institutions initiative to stabilize the market. However, as there still exist uncertainties in financial markets concerning price levels, trends of economic slowdown and the pace of monetary tightening in major advanced economies, participants reached to the same view that it is still vital to maintain a state of vigilance in responding to market situations. Financial authorities expressed appreciation for the active market stabilization efforts the banking sector showedand said that authorities will continue to make available policy-based support programs (bond market stabilization fund, corporate bond and CP purchase program, etc.) to ensure market stability. At todays meeting, participants discussed how to restart bank bond issuance, which has been refrained so far for the goal of maintaining stability in the bond market. The banking sector raised the issue that there currently exist diverse types of demands for issuing bank bonds, for instance, to deal with their outstanding bonds coming to maturity soon, to respond to the outflow of consumer deposits, and to expand corporate loans, etc. In particular, considering the recent signs toward stabilization in the bond market and the year-end lending and borrowing needs of banks, the banking sector suggested the gradual restart of bank bond issuance at least for the purpose of refinancing bonds that are about to mature. Taking into account the latest supply and demand situation of bond markets as well as expert opinions, partic
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Dec 07, 2022
- FSC Chairman Attends KDB NextRound's Fintech Special Round and Speaks about Expanding Fintech Investment
- FSC Chairman Kim Joo-hyun attended the Fintech Special Round event hosted by the Korea Development Bank NextRound on December 7. At the event, Chairman Kim briefed on the direction of governments policy aimed to drive innovation in digital finance and cultivate the fintech industry, while encouraging fintech startups that seek to attract investment. Summary of Congratulatory Remarks by FSC Chairman FSC Chairman Kim Joo-hyun highlighted that the future of our financial industry is dependent on how well the government responds to the fourth industrial revolution and digital transformation as the pace of such shifts accelerates. To follow these shifts, the government has so far spared no effort to come up with multifaceted measures such as introduction of a financial regulatory sandbox program and creation of the fintech innovation fund. However, as global monetary tightening and the three highs such as inflation, high exchange rates and high interest rates, etc. intensify economic uncertainty, the venture business and startup markets around the globe are facing the severe funding winter, and fintech sectors are struggling with this difficult situation. Against this backdrop, Chairman Kim underscored his plan to strengthen policy support to help fintech companies to overcome this hard time and enlarge innovation capacity to drive the future of financial industry. The following shows details of this policy support. I. Expanding Availability of Funding Support for Fintech Startups The authorities will offer support to help innovative businesses grow such as introducing the innovation growth fund worth of KRW15 trillion for five years from 2023 and a new Silicon Valley-style lending program for venture businesses, which will offer loans combined with zero-interest rate bonds with warrants. Furthermore, the authorities plans to bolster the financial support system specialized for fintech businesses with increasing the size of the fintech innovation fund from KRW500 billion
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Dec 07, 2022
- Authorities Hold Meeting to Monitor Flow of Funds and Risk Factors in Financial Markets
- On December 7, the FSC met with the pertinent authoritiesto review the flow of funds and risk factors in the financial sectors and to go over future response plans. Participants in the meeting agreed that recent volatility in the domestic money market appears to be stabilizing, which is supported by expectations for a slower pace of tightening monetary policy both domestically and internationally as well as the implementation of a number of market stabilization measures. Participants concurred that caution must be exercised in light of the special funds situation involving year-end account settlements and the December meeting of the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee. Participants shared the opinion that consistent government policy support and efforts by the financial industry are necessary to firmly ensure market stability. The Bank of Korea (BOK) and financial authorities will work to smoothly implement the market stabilization programs set up to stabilize the money market. a) The bond market stabilization fund is currently undergoing another capital call, which will be finished by January 2023. Additionally, the BOK intends to provide liquidity to the financial institutions it has invested in, up to KRW 2.5 trillion. b) The Korea Development Bank (KDB), Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK), and Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KODIT) are currently operating a corporate bond and CP (commercial paper) purchasing program worth a total of KRW11 trillion. In particular, the P-CBO (primary collateralized bond obligation) program, worth KRW5 trillion, will start running the following year to help large businesses, middle market enterprises, and SMEs issue corporate bonds. c) The PF-ABCP (project finance asset backed commercial papers) purchasing program for those backed by securities companies is currently providing prompt assistance in response to market demands from the PF-ABCPs approaching maturity (total KRW1.8 trillion).The PF-ABCP purchasing program for those backed by con
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Nov 24, 2022
- FSC Chairman Meets with Venture Startups and Holds Talks on Boosting Investment
- FSC Chairman Kim Joo-hyun visited Mapo Front1, the largest startup support center in Korea, on November 24, where he held talks with venture businesses, venture capitalists and financial institutions. Chairman Kim listened to difficulties and complaints from startups and venture businesses and also asked financial institutions to increase investment and support for startups and venture businesses. Summary of FSC Chairmans Remarks Startups and venture businesses are essential for increasing our economys growth potential and creating jobs. Thus, it is important to establish an ecosystem where they can thrive. Meanwhile, to improve our economys competitiveness, more startups and small businesses with technological prowess and innovativeness need to be fostered even in times of investment drought. Therefore, the FSC and policy financial institutions will strengthen their support for innovative and promising venture businesses by providing more funding opportunities and acting as a priming pump to attract more private sector investments. For this, the innovative growth fund worth KRW15 trillionwill be created over the next five years to support SMEs and startups in new industries such as semiconductor and artificial intelligence (AI) and to supply venture businesses the funds in need to grow up into unicorn companies. Second, policy financial institutionsKorea Development Bank (KDB), Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) and Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KODIT)will introduce a lending program worth KRW6.3 trillion, which will provide funds to startups and venture businesses based on loan examinations focused on their growth potential rather than their financial statements and the value of collaterals. In particular, the IBK will introduce a new lending program for venture businesses, modeled after those observed in Silicon Valley, which will offer loans with zero-interest rate bonds with warrants (BWs) attached. This program will enable early-stage venture businesses to continue
