The Financial Services Commission announced a plan to facilitate the entrustment of banking services to improve consumer access to financial services on March 27. Under the plan, the FSC plans to (a) establish a legislative ground for introducing bank agency services and (b) facilitate the use of jointly shared automated teller machines (ATMs) in the banking sector and the small-sum deposit and withdrawal services at convenience stores. With digital transformation rapidly taking place in the financial industry, the number of physical bank branches has been continuously declining.This declining trend has been evident not only in Korea but across the globe as it has become inevitable that online (non-face-to-face) work processes have picked up in a digital era. However, this declining trend in the number of bank branches may restrict financial access to digitally vulnerable consumer groups, such as the elderly. Thus, the proposed plan to facilitate the entrustment of banking services is expected to help address this problem and improve consumer access to financial services. Introducing Bank Agency Services Under the bank agency framework, third-party entities are authorized to provide intrinsic banking services specified under the Banking Act (deposit-taking, lending, money transfer, etc.). This allows consumers to conduct face-to-face banking businesses on-site at locations that are not bank branches. Bank agencies do not engage in all types of banking functions but instead only perform certain types of services requiring face-to-face interactions with customers on behalf of banks, such as consulting, receiving application forms, signing an agreement, etc. Other types of banking functions, such as the screening and approval of applications which require decision-making but no interaction with customers, are still directly performed by banks. Since bank agencies will perform intrinsic banking services, there will be entry restrictions, and only authorized entities wil

The Financial Services Commission convened an extraordinary session on March 21 and decided to fully reinstate stock short selling as previously planned from March 31. The decision has been reached as the financial authorities determined that concerns over factors undermining fair price formation in the market can be resolved with the short sale reform measures put in place thus far. To help ease the impact of reinstating short selling on certain stock items, the designation scheme for overheated short selling stockswhich restricts the short sale in the following day of individual stock items that have been subject to rapid increases in short sale orders in the previous daywill be operated in an expanded capacity until May 31, 2025. The complete resumption of short selling, which will take place for the first time in about five yearswith a newly established computerized system, is expected to help enhance the external credibility and market efficiency of Koreas stock markets. Key Details and Progress of Short Sale Reform Measures (a) From Monday, March 31, 2025, short selling becomes available for institutional investorsthat have set up required computer systems intended to prevent naked short selling (or those placing short sale orders after entering borrowed stocks into their accounts). Institutional and corporate investors can engage in short selling only if they have established relevant internal control standards. In addition, securities companies are obligated to submit short sale orders only after verifying the establishment of required computer systems and internal control standards by institutional and corporate investors. The naked short selling detecting system (NSDS) has been established at the Korea Exchange (KRX) and has been running simulations this month after conducting linked tests with institutional investors own computer systems from January to February. At the time of this release, 21 institutional investors (the number is tentative)that made up

The Financial Services Commission, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that foreigners residing in Korea with registered IDs will be able to open bank accounts and conduct financial transactions using mobile foreigner residence cards from March 21. From January 10 this year, the Ministry of Justice began to issue mobile foreigner residence cards to those who have registered their status of residence in Korea. A mobile foreigner residence card can be obtained if the foreigner with registered status is 14 years of age or older and owns a smartphone under his or her own name. After downloading mobile ID app on their smartphones, foreign residents can obtain mobile foreigner residence cards by tagging their plastic foreign resident ID cards (integrated circuit cards) on smartphones, or by scanning the QR code with the mobile ID app. To make sure that personal ID verification is conducted safely and conveniently, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety established a blockchain-based and integrated mobile ID system and has introduced mobile IDs for drivers license (Jan. 2022), veteran ID card (Aug. 2023), and foreign resident ID card (Jan. 2025) in coordination with related ministries. The financial sector and the financial authorities have also been making relevant changes to boost the convenience and safety of consumers in their transactions with financial companies. As such, from March 21, 2025, foreign residents will be able to open bank accounts and conduct financial transactions using their mobile foreigner residence cards from six domestic banks (Shinhan, Hana, iM, Busan, Jeonbuk, and Jeju). Under the revised Immigration Act, mobile foreigner residence card is recognized as an equally valid form of ID as the original plastic ID card. The financial authorities in close coordination with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the banking sector have since then made changes and upgraded relevant procedures and systems to

In February 2025, the outstanding balance of household loans across all financial sectors increased KRW4.3 trillion (preliminary), shifting back up from the drop of KRW0.9 trillion in the previous month. (By Type) Home mortgage loans increased KRW5.0 trillion, growing at a faster rate compared with the previous month (up KRW3.2 trillion). Mortgage loans expanded at a faster rate in the banking sector (up KRW1.7 trillion up KRW3.5 trillion), while growing at a similar level in the nonbanking sector (up KRW1.5 trillion up KRW1.5 trillion). Other types of loans dropped KRW0.6 trillion, declining at a slower rate compared with the previous month (down KRW4.1 trillion), as credit loans shifted back up from a month ago (down KRW1.5 trillion up KRW0.1 trillion). (By Sector) Household loans in the banking sector rose KRW3.3 trillion, turning back up from the decline of KRW0.5 trillion a month ago. Policy-based loans grew at a faster rate (up KRW2.2 trillion up KRW2.9 trillion), while banks own mortgage loans edged up from the decline in the previous month (down KRW0.6 trillion up KRW0.6 trillion). Other types of loans including credit loans declined at a slower rate compared with the previous month (down KRW2.1 trillion down KRW0.2 trillion). In the nonbanking sector, household loans rose KRW1.0 trillion, turning back up from the decline of KRW0.5 trillion a month ago. Mutual finance businesses (down KRW0.1 trillion up KRW0.8 trillion) and specialized credit finance businesses (down KRW0.1 trillion up KRW0.3 trillion) saw household loans shifting back up from the previous month. Savings banks saw a drop of KRW0.02 trillion from the growth of KRW0.2 trillion a month ago. Household loans in the insurance sector dropped at a slower rate compared with the previous month (down KRW0.5 trillion down KRW0.1 trillion). (Assessment) The outstanding balance of household loans across all financial sectors edged up somewhat considerably in February as financial companies have begun to i

Vice Chairman Kim Soyoung of the Financial Services Commission traveled to Cambodia and the Philippines between March 3 and 7 in an effort to promote financial cooperation with these countries and support overseas expansion of K-Finance. Visit to Phnom Penh, Cambodia Visit to National Bank of Cambodia On March 4, Vice Chairman Kim visited the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) and met with Deputy Governor Yim Leat. Vice Chairman Kim also congratulated the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Korea Asset Management Corporation (KAMCO) and the NBC and showed a commitment to enhancing financial cooperation in the areas of banking regulation and strengthening the capacity for supervision. During the high-level meeting held between the two countries, the NBC requested sharing of policy experience and know-hows from the KAMCO and the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) in the areas of resolution of non-performing loans (NPLs) and deposit protection scheme. In response, Vice Chairman Kim said that Korea will strengthen policy support to enhance financial cooperation between the two countries by holding an annual international financial cooperation forum (organized by The Council on International Financial Cooperation) in Cambodia next year. In addition, Vice Chairman Kim also asked for cooperation and support from the NBC regarding the complex and time-consuming nature of NPL recovery process in Cambodia, the problem that has been consistently raised by the Korean financial companies operating in Cambodia. After the high-level meeting, an MOU was signed between the KAMCO and the NBC aimed at enhancing cooperation in the area of the resolution of NPLs through sharing of experience and know-hows. In this regard, Vice Chairman Kim spoke about the importance of promptly establishing effective measures to facilitate the resolution of NPLs in Cambodia, which have been growing rapidly in the banking sector amid a slowdown in the property sector. With thi