Press Releases - Financial Services Commission

Press Releases

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Dec 18, 2023

Provision of Corporate Disclosures in English from 2024 to Enhance Information Access for Foreign Investors

The Financial Services Commission announced that from January 1, 2024, large KOSPI-listed companies will begin to provide English disclosures on material information within three business days from filing disclosures in Korean with the KRX. This is the first phase of the mandatory English disclosure requirement being implemented as part of the comprehensive measures to improve foreign investors access to Korean capital markets announced in January this year. According to this plan, English disclosures on material information will become mandatory for KOSPI-listed companies in two phases (1st phase from 2024 to 2025 and 2nd phase expected from after 2026) starting with large listed firms. A variety of support programs to promote an expansion of English disclosures will also be made available. From 2024, KOSPI-listed companies with assets worth KRW10 trillion or more will be required to submit English disclosures on (a) matters related to closing financial statement, (b) matters concerning important decision-making and (c) matters pertaining to suspension of trading within three days from filing their regulatory disclosures in Korean. In the meantime, the authorities plan to continue to implement various support measures to facilitate businesses to more easily adjust to the mandatory English disclosure requirement. In this regard, special benefits, such as an exemption of listing fee, will be granted to those selected for outstanding English disclosures, and the availability of translation service offered by professional translation service providers will be expanded, while the authorities strengthen training courses on English disclosures. In addition, the authorities plan to work on making improvements to English disclosure platforms (KRXs KIND English website and FSSs DART English website) by expanding the automated machine translation service, providing English search function for Korean statutory disclosures, and enhancing translation quality using AI-based machi
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Dec 14, 2023

FSC Provides Guideline on Underlying Assets for Fractional Investment Service Providers

The Financial Services Commission introduced a guideline on the underlying asset requirement of trust beneficiary certificates when a designated innovative financial service provider under the financial regulatory sandbox program intends to provide fractional investment service through issuance of trust beneficiary certificates. The guideline has been prepared after having discussions with the innovative financial service selection committee (Nov. 28) and at FSCs regular meeting (Dec. 13). In principle, fractional investment service providers need to first consider making use of the traditionally available investment vehicles. However, when it is deemed to be not viable, by applying the principle of supplementarity, a regulatory exemption may be granted under the Special Act on Support for Financial Innovation to allow the issuance of trust beneficiary certificates as prescribed by the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act (FSCMA). Those applying to assume fractional investment business under the regulatory sandbox program should first look into ways to do so by making use of the traditionally existing means of investment vehicles permitted under current laws. Moreover, they should consider that there needs to be a sufficient level of contribution to innovation and investor convenience in issuing trust beneficiary certificates. In this regard, the supplementarity principle will be applied in a flexible manner to allow testing of innovative financial services, if the applying entity has given adequate consideration about the supplementarity principle, and that if there is not much usage of traditional investment vehicles in the fractional investment market. The trust beneficiary certificates underlying asset requirements include the following. First, an objective valuation and assessment should be available. The issuer of trust beneficiary certificates should determine the issuing price and quantity after assessing the value of trust assets, and the i
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Dec 13, 2023

Investing in Domestic Capital Markets Made Easier for Foreign Investors

The Financial Services Commission announced that a set of measures intended to enhance foreign investors access to domestic capital markets will take effect from December 14, 2023. The measures include the abolishment of foreign investors prior registration requirement, the easing of reporting duty for foreign securities firms in their use of omnibus account, and the expanded scope of foreign investors OTC transactions eligible for ex post reporting. Meanwhile, the mandatory English disclosure rule for listed companies will phase in from January 1, 2024. First, the foreign investor registration system, which mandated foreign investors to register with the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) prior to making investment in domestic stock markets, will be abolished. As the revised Enforcement Decree of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act (FSCMA) takes effect from tomorrow (December 14), foreign investors are able to open investment accounts in domestic capital markets either with a legal entity identifier (LEI, for corporate investors) or a passport number (for individual investors) without going through a prior registration process. Those that have already been assigned a foreign investor registration number can still use their identifier so as to help to minimize causing unnecessary inconvenience. Second, the use of omnibus account for foreign securities firms will be made more convenient. Although the omnibus account system has been available since 2017, it has never been utilized by foreign securities firms due to the heavy burden of reporting rule, which required them to instantly report each end-investors completed transactions at the moment of settlement (T+2). Starting from tomorrow, their reporting cycle will be eased to once every month. Under the revised rules on financial investment businesses, foreign securities firms will be required to reportas of the last day of every montheach end-investors transaction details to an omnibus account
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Nov 16, 2023

Authorities Discuss Stock Short Sale Reform Measures

Vice Chairman Kim So-young of the Financial Services Commission attended a meeting on short selling reform measures which brought together authorities from the private sector, the ruling party of the National Assembly and the government on November 16. At the meeting, the authorities discussed a direction for making improvements to the short selling system. The reform measures discussed at todays meeting are not finalized measures for implementation but a set of proposals laying out a direction for further discussions and refinement at the National Assembly and with the public. Overall, the proposed measures are aimed at (a) leveling the playing field between institutional and retail investors, (b) preventing naked short sales in advance, (c) strengthening the detection and punishment of illegal short selling activities, and (d) expanding short sale disclosure. Stock Short Sale Reform Proposal I. Leveling the playing field Currently, the stock borrowing conditions for short selling remain unequal between institutional investors and retail investors, although the gap has been narrowed considerably through past reform measures for retail investors, extending the stock repayment period from 60 days previously to 90 days and lowering the margin requirement from 140 percent previously to 120 percent. However, the discrepancies in stock lending still exist and this has been raised as a problem of unleveled playing field for retail investors vis--vis institutional investors. As a way to resolve this problem, the authorities propose making the stock repayment period and margin requirement same for both institutional investors and retail investors. More specifically, first, the stock repayment period for institutional investorscurrently unrestricted and determined on a contract-by-contract basiswill be set as 90 days, same as that for retail investors. The Korea Securities Depository, which handles stock lending to institutional investors, should check the repayment period o
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Nov 05, 2023

FSC Decides to Ban Stock Short Selling Until June 2024 and Seek Measures to Improve the System

The Financial Services Commission held a meeting on November 5 where the authorities decided to ban all stock short selling in domestic markets (all KOSPI, KOSDAQ and KONEX listed items) effective from Monday, November 6, 2023 until the end of June 2024. With the continuation of high interest rate environment and stagnant growth in the global economy, coupled with geopolitical risks such as the armed conflict between Israel and Hamas, there are growing uncertainties for the Korean economy. In particular, during the second half of this year, stock market volatility in domestic stock markets has risen to much higher levels compared to other major markets overseas,which caused anxiety in the market. Despite a series of measures introduced in the past,recently, the authorities have discovered a number of illegal naked short selling practices conducted by foreign and institutional investors, raising concerns about the fair pricing function of domestic stock markets. Recently, a large-scale naked short selling case involving global investment banks was detected, and an investigation is currently taking place with discovery of additional unlawful activities. As such, the FSC finds that the situation with illegal short selling is very dire as it can erode the fair pricing function of the market and degrade confidence in the market. Therefore, considering the need to preemptively respond to the rising market uncertainties and address concerns about the potential weakening of the markets fair pricing function, and with the practice of illegal naked short selling taking place in a more routine way, the FSC decided to ban short selling on all domestic stock items until the end of June next year. Meanwhile, during the period of banning short selling, the government will work on proactive measures to improve the system in a way that will help to root out illegal short selling activities when short selling resumes thereafter. In this regard, first, the authorities will work on mea
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Oct 31, 2023

FSC Proposes Rules Change on the Maximum Level of Credit Extension Allowed for Foreign Subsidiaries

The Financial Services Commission proposed a revision to the supervisory regulation on financial holding companies on October 31, which will be open for public comment from October 31 to November 10, as a follow-up to the previously announced plan to ease rules on overseas subsidiary ownership of financial companies. Under the current rule, financial companies within a holding group are allowed to extend credit to their own subsidiaries at the maximum level of 10 percent of equity capital to each individual subsidiary. The total sum of credit extended to subsidiaries should not exceed 20 percent of equity capital. However, for financial holding companies overseas subsidiaries, which often face challenges in raising funds at an early stage due to low credit background and lack of collateral, this rule on credit extension between financial companies within a holding group has placed restrictions on their ability to raise funds even from their domestic affiliates. Therefore, this revision proposal will increase the maximum level of credit extension allowed by a financial company to its foreign subsidiary within additional 10 percentage points from the current level for a period of maximum three years from the time the foreign subsidiary becomes a part of the holding group. This revision proposal will be available for public comment from October 31 to November 10 and go into effect from January 1, 2024 after a deliberation by the FSC. * Please refer to the attached file for details.
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Oct 19, 2023

Revised Guidelines on Corporate Governance Disclosure

I. Overview and Progress of the System Corporate governance disclosure was introduced to encourage listed companies to voluntarily enhance their corporate transparency. Companies are required to disclose their compliance with the core principles of corporate governance and explain* the reasons for non-compliance based on a Comply or Explain approach. * The guidelines present a generally recommended corporate governance structure, such as those in the G20/OECD Corporate Governance Principles, allowing companies the discretion to select a governance structure that suits them, while requiring them to provide explanations for non-compliance (10 core principles, 28 detailed principles). Corporate governance disclosure was voluntary when it was first introduced in Korea by the Korea Exchange (KRX) in 2017. In 2019, it became mandatory for KOSPI-listed companies with total assets of KRW2 trillion or more, and in 2022, the scope of companies subject to mandatory filing was expanded to KOSPI-listed companies with total assets of KRW1 trillion or more. * A review at the end of 2022 showed that the average compliance rate for key indicators among companies with assets of KRW2 trillion or more significantly improved from 63.5% in 2021 to 66.7% in 2022. This was evaluated as a positive contribution to enhancing corporate transparency. ** [Schedule] (2019) Total assets of KRW2 trillion or more (2022) KRW1 trillion or more (2024) KRW500 billion or more (2026) All KOSPI-listed companies In 2019, the KRX established the guidelines on corporate governance disclosure, providing core principles of corporate governance and detailed reporting standards to ensure that companies provide faithful and comparable information in their disclosures. The guidelines were revised in 2020 and 2022 to reflect market conditions. II. Background and Key Details of the Revision The revision of the guidelines incorporates feedback received during the implementation of corporate governance disclosure in li
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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 11, 2023

FSC Vice Chairman Holds Investor Relations in Hong Kong to Promote Investment in Korean Capital Markets

Vice Chairman Kim So-young of the Financial Services Commission visited Hong Kong on September 8 on the final leg of his weeklong trip to Indonesia, Vietnam and Hong Kong intended to boost financial cooperation with the region. IR event with Global Investors Vice Chairman Kim held an IR event for global investors to explain key policy updates regarding recent improvements made to Koreas capital and foreign exchange markets. Since the beginning of this year, the government has introduced a series of regulatory reform measures intended to increase regulatory consistency with global standards and improve investment environment for global investors. The government has been making continuous efforts to communicate with various stakeholders to inform its reform measures. As a part of this effort, an IR event was held in Hong Kong to attract more capital inflows into Korean capital markets and facilitate companies to raise funds. About 40 participants from 20 global asset management companies and insurance companies attended the event showing a high level of interest. Vice Chairman Kim gave a comprehensive presentation on the governments key market reform efforts, including the abolishment of foreign investors registration requirement, improvements made to companies dividend payout procedure, adoption of an ex-ante disclosure rule for insider transactions and so on. Vice Chairman Kim then underscored the governments strong willingness to make changes to capital markets and upgrade investment environment to ensure a virtuous cycle from investment to growth to reinvestment. Global investors in attendance had favorable views about the event, saying that it was such a great opportunity to meet with the regulators in person and exchange opinions on important policies. Meeting with Deputy Chief Executive of Hong Kong Monetary Authority Vice Chairman Kim held a meeting with Deputy Chief Executive Arthur Yuen of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to exchange views on recent global m
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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 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

FSC Announces Private-Public Joint Export Support Measures Worth KRW23 Trillion

The Financial Services Commission held a meeting with major banks, policy financial institutions along with the relevant government ministries on August 16 and announced a set of measures aimed at boosting support for the export industry. The announcement is a follow-up to the presidential export strategy meeting held in February, and the measures reflect opinions raised during FSCs meeting with the export sectors held earlier in May. Key details of the measures include (a) proving strategic support for domestic export businesses to more effectively prepare them for the rapidly changing global trade structure, (b) strengthening the medium- to long-term competitiveness of the strategic export sectors by expanding the size of export finance and (c) reducing the burden of using trade finance for some 2,500 outstanding export businesses selected by the government. Providing strategic support for domestic export businesses First, for exporters seeking to find a new export market or businesses seeking to explore export opportunities in partnership with a large exporter, special financial products worth KRW4.1 trillion-plus will be provided with the availability of interest rate reduction of maximum KRW1.5 percentage points and benefits for guarantee fees and maximum lending limit. To help domestic enterprises to win large-scale oversees project orders, policy financial institutions will each play a role in setting up a project package financing model in which private financial institutions can also participate. At the same time, a KRW500 billion worth of fund will be created to more effectively respond to the shifting global supply chain environment. The fund will provide support for the materials, parts and equipment businesses and provide funds needed to expand their business operation in export destinations or set up new production facilities in another country. Strengthening the medium- to long-term competitiveness of strategic export sectors Policy finance support wo
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Jul 17, 2023

Authorities to Ease Rules on Overseas Subsidiary Ownership of Financial Companies

The financial regulatory reform committee held its 8th meeting on July 17. At the meeting, participants discussed (a) measures to ease rules on domestic financial companies ownership of subsidiaries in overseas markets, (b) ways to improve licensing standards on mergers between savings banks and (c) recent progress in the implementation of financial regulatory reform agendas sought by the committee. With regard to the measures to ease rules on financial companies ownership of subsidiaries in overseas markets, the proposed measures will first ease rules on domestic banks, insurance companies, specialized credit finance companies and fintech businesses making investment in foreign financial and non-financial companies within the scope of regulatory boundaries exhibited in overseas markets. For instance, a specialized credit finance business specializing in auto finance products may be able to acquire a rental car business in an overseas market to expand its sales operation. An insurance company will be able to own a foreign bank operating in an overseas market. A fintech business belonging to a domestic financial holding company can acquire an investment advisory or investment consulting business as a subsidiary. As many financial companies have been making requests to ease regulations regarding their foreign subsidiary holdings, it is expected that business diversification driven by local demand will help boost their competitiveness in overseas markets. Second, the proposed measures will ease rules on the maximum level of credit extension allowed for foreign subsidiaries. Through a revision to the supervisory regulations on financial holding companies, authorities plan to increase the maximum level of credit (within 10%p) that can be extended by a financial company to its foreign subsidiary for certain period of time (i.e. for first three years). Third, for the rules that have been set up for domestic environment and are thus not quite suitable to be applied on forei
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Jun 21, 2023

FSC Approves Financial Hub Development Plan for 2023-2025

The Financial Services Commission held the 12th regular meeting on June 21 and finalized the 6th financial hub development plan for 2023-2025. The 6th three-year plan to promote financial hubs in Korea contains the following four key task areas which will allow the government and the financial sector to quickly respond to the changing global financial environment and actively make use of the areas where the Korean financial industry has a comparative advantage. Task #1: Continue to seek innovation in financial regulations and boost support for fintech businesses to enhance global competitiveness of Korean financial companies amid digital transformation. Task #2: Establish relevant infrastructure to be able to make the most use of the changing trends in financial environment and revamp the foreign exchange trading system. Task #3: Overhaul regulations to help increase global investors investment in domestic capital markets and boost global competitiveness of capital markets and asset management market. Task #4: Make utmost use of the financial industry globalization taskforce to provide active support for domestic financial companies business expansion overseas and to create synergetic effects with the efforts to promote foreign financial companies entry in domestic market. * Please refer to the attachmentfor details.
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Jun 19, 2023

FSC Concludes Series of Meetings on Promoting Overseas Expansion of Korean Financial Businesses

The Financial Services Commission held a meeting with the Financial Supervisory Service, relevant industry groups and financial institutions on June 19 and had discussions on ways to promote overseas expansion of domestic financial businesses and seek regulatory overhaul. Since launching a taskforce on the globalization of financial industry in March this year, authorities held a series of seminars and meetings with different sectors and todays meeting is the final session concluding what have been discussed thus far. At the beginning of the meeting, FSC Vice Chairman Kim So-young delivered opening remarks and outlined the FSCs plan to improve regulations in the following four areas(a) acquisition of a foreign subsidiary to bolster global competitiveness, (b) raising funds for an overseas subsidiary by the parent company, (c) flexible application of domestic use only regulations on overseas branches, and (d) removing excessive redundancy in disclosure and reporting duties and switching the current ex ante reporting requirement to ex post reporting The FSC plans to draw up and announce in July specific regulatory reform measures in support for domestic financial companies business expansion overseas. To help resolve the difficulty of financial companies in getting in touch with local financial regulatory agencies abroad and to address the shortage of information available on foreign markets, authorities also introduced measures to strengthen cooperation networks with relevant authorities for overseas expansion of domestic financial businesses. * Please refer to the attached filefor details.
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Jun 12, 2023

2023 Korea Fintech Week Scheduled to be Held from August 30 to September 1

The annual global fintech expo, 2023 Korea Fintech Week, is scheduled to be held from Wednesday, August 30 to Friday, September 1 at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul this year. The 2023 Korea Fintech Week will be held on the theme of the new wave of fintech, providing a venue for fintech businesses, financial companies, big tech platforms and investors to come together to share some of the latest fintech trends, pitch innovative business models and promote investment in the fintech industry. A variety of programs including fintech exhibitions, theme-based seminars and events for first-hand fintech experience will be available for participants. In order to actively support domestic fintech firms business expansion in overseas markets, this years Korea Fintech Week will have an expanded size of global hall to promote participation by many investors, accelerators and venture capitalists from many different countries. In addition, a collaboration hall will be newly set up for operation this year to encourage participation by the entire domestic fintech ecosystem including local government bodies, relevant organizations and universities. Also, a variety of helpful programs and events including a global fintech talk with a foreign influencer, fintech idea contest, finance-themed musical and fintech job mentoring and career consulting will be available to help visitors to learn about various fintech services and trends in an easy and fun way. It is expected that the 2023 Korea Fintech Week will provide vast opportunities to expand and reinvigorate Koreas fintech ecosystem. * Please refer to the attached filefor details.
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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 31, 2023

FSC Announces 6th Financial Hub Policy

The FSC held the 49th meeting on promoting financial hubs in Korea on May 31 and decided on the 6th financial hub policy for 2023-2025. At the meeting, FSC Chairman Kim Joo-hyun delivered opening remarks and discussed some changes that took place in the global financial environment over the past three years. In this regard, Chairman Kim said that compared to the year 2020 when the 5th three-year plan for promoting financial hubs in Korea was formulated, todays global financial environment is experiencing rapid changes amid digital transformation and spread of sustainable finance. In this regard, Chairman Kim stressed that how we respond to these changes will determine the competitiveness of global financial hubs. As such, the 6th three-year plan to promote financial hubs in Korea contains the following four key task areas which will allow the government and the financial sector to quickly respond to the changing global financial environment and actively make use of the areas where the Korean financial industry has a comparative advantage. a) Continue to seek innovation in financial regulations and boost support for fintech businesses to improve the global competitiveness of Korean financial companies amid digital transformation. b) Ensure establishment of relevant infrastructure to be able to make the most use of the changing trends in financial sector such as digital finance and sustainable finance. c) Pursue bold regulatory reforms to help increase foreign investors investment in domestic capital markets and alleviate factors associated with the so-called Korea discount. d) Make utmost use of the financial industry globalization taskforce to provide active support for domestic financial companies business expansion overseas and to create synergetic effects with the efforts to promote foreign financial companies entry in domestic market and the Seoul and Busan metropolitan governments own financial hub development strategies. At todays meeting, the Seoul Metropolit
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