Press Releases - Financial Services Commission

Press Releases

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Apr 14, 2021

Household Loans, March 2021

The outstanding balance of household loansin all financial sectors rose KRW9.1 trillion from the previous month at the end of March 2021 (up 8.4% year-on-year). The household loan balance increased KRW6.5 trillion in the banking sector and KRW2.6 trillion in the non-banking sector. All financial sectors (y-o-y): +8.5% (Jan 2021) +8.5% (Feb 2021) +8.4% (Mar 2021) By type, mortgage loans increased KRW6.5 trillion in March, growing at a slower rate compared with the previous month (up KRW7.8 trillion y-o-y). Mortgage lending and jeonseloans declined due to a slowdown in housing market transactions. Other types of loans grew KRW2.6 trillion, declining from KRW3.9 trillion a year ago. Credit-based lending fell significantly compared to the end of previous year as lenders tightened control over credit risks and the demand for stock investment subsided. The government will closely monitor trends in household loans and work on policies to induce a soft-landing of the household debt-related risks. * Please refer to the attached PDF for details.
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Apr 13, 2021

7th Digital Finance Meeting Discusses Guidelines on the Use of AI Technologies in Financial Services

Vice Chairman Doh Kyu-sang held the 7th consultative body meeting on digital finance via teleconference on April 13 and discussed potential risks of digital transformation in financial sectors, establishing guidelines on the use of AI technologies in financial services and plan for the operation of the consultative body subcommittees. At the meeting, Vice Chairman Doh spoke about the progress made by the consultative body meetings as they helped to resolve differences of interests between big techs, fintechs and financial companies. Amid a deepening digital convergence taking place throughout the economy, Vice Chairman Doh stressed the importance of continuing with efforts to seek innovative solutions in financial sectors. The following is a summary of Vice Chairman Dohs remarks. (Digital Transformation and Potential Risks in Financial Sectors) Digital transformation is an inevitable change throughout the world. Although there are positive effects, such as expanded consumer choice and increased efficiency, there also needs to be policy efforts to prepare for potential risks. As such, the FSC will first strengthen risk management on the impact of a growing number of new players entering the financial markets. As competition between big techs and financial institutions deepens, the authorities will keep a close eye on for any changes in their sales behavior, potential damages to consumers and the possibility of debilitating soundness of financial companies. Second, the FSC will lay the groundwork upon which new technologies can be used safely. The authorities will work to ensure transparency and fairness in the process of using AI and other innovative technologies in financial services, while closely inspecting for the possibility of skewness which may result from financial companies using similar algorithms. Third, the authorities will closely monitor financial sector risks, such as the possibility of risk transfer in the process of non-financial firms engaging in fi
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Apr 13, 2021

Government Approves Revised Law to Support Innovative Financial Services

The government approved the revision to the Special Act on Support for Financial Innovation during a cabinet meeting held on April 13 to make improvements to the financial regulatory sandbox program and support innovative financial service providers. The revised Act allows innovative financial service providers to file requests for regulatory improvements while extending the period of regulatory exemption for an additional year and six months if the authorities decide to accept the request and make relevant changes to the regulation. Key Revisions (Filing Request for Regulatory Improvement) The innovative financial service providers may file a request for regulatory improvement to the FSC and other relevant authorities three months prior to the expiration of their designation status. (Establishing Specific Procedures for Review Process) Upon receiving a request for a regulatory improvement, the FSC or other relevant authority will introduce the matter to the relevant committee to decide the necessity of regulatory reform and make relevant changes to the regulation. (Extension of Regulatory Exemption Period) Upon the authoritys decision to make relevant changes to the regulation, the regulatory exemption period applied to the innovative financial service will be extended for up to an additional year and six monthsfrom the time of the expiration of their designation status. Schedule The revised Act will take effect from July 21, 2021 after the promulgation on April 20. The FSC will work to ensure a smooth implementation of the revised law. At the same time, the authorities will help to better inform innovative financial service providers about the changed rules taking place. * Please refer to the attached PDF for details.
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Apr 08, 2021

Meaningful Improvements in Financial Services Made Possible by Financial Regulatory Sandbox

The FSC announced key achievements and progress in the operation of the financial regulatory sandbox program on April 8. Background The financial regulatory sandbox program was launched on April 1, 2019 to promote competition and innovation in the financial industry while improving convenience for consumers. The sandbox program allows businesses designated as innovative financial service providers to enjoy regulatory exemptions for up to four years, so that they can test their innovative business ideas and technologies. In addition, the revised Special Act on Support for Financial Innovation allows designated firms to request regulatory improvements and the government may decide to grant an additional regulatory exemption period of one year and six months. Since April 1, 2019, the FSC has designated 139 innovative financial services in total with 78 such services currently being tested in the market and a total of 108 innovative financial services expected to be in service within the first half of 2021.For innovative services that have been tested to bring about significant consumer convenience and guaranteed security, the government has worked to improve regulations in a prompt manner. Out of 68 such regulations, improvements have been made to 14 of them with plans to revamp 22 regulatory items currently being prepared. For innovative businesses, comprehensive support and consulting is being provided through the Fintech Center Korea, from the stage of sandbox program application to testing to service launch. Chairmans Remarks (Progress in Financial Regulatory Sandbox) The financial regulatory sandbox program has become an essential policy to promote innovation in the financial industry and help foster fintechs. Bold attempts at innovation through the sandbox program have led to meaningful changes in our daily lives. First, the public is experiencing significant financial innovation in their daily economic activities. The number of users of innovative financial serv
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Apr 08, 2021

Government to Set up Diagnosis-Response Framework for COVID-19 Financial Measures

Vice Chairman Doh Kyu-sang held the 38th financial risk assessment meeting via teleconference on April 8 to review risk factors in the economy and financial markets and discuss the establishment of a diagnosis-response framework for COVID-19 financial support measures. The following is a summary of Vice Chairman Dohs remarks. (Current Economic and Market Situation) There are signs of an economic recovery this year with strong exports and improvements in industrial output. The expectation for recovery is also growing as international organizations have revised up their growth forecasts for 2021. However, as the number of new infection cases has been on the rise recently, many small-sized businesses and self-employed are still experiencing difficulties. At the same time, there are rising concerns about uncertainties in financial markets as liquidities around the world have grown to unprecedented levels. In this regard, the IMF and the FSB suggested the importance of risk management in financial sectors while also stressing the need to maintain adequate provision of financial support. Major economies are gradually adjusting their policies. The Chinese government is seeking to control liquidities and property market overheating. The US and Japan have rolled back some of the financial support measures while continuing with policies for recovery. Against this backdrop, the Korean government has also sought multidimensional ways to improve the COVID-19 financial response measures with a mid- to long-term perspective. As such, todays meeting will discuss ways to improve our COVID-19 financial response framework. (Diagnosis-Response Framework on COVID-19 Financial Measures) The government will set up a diagnosis-response framework on COVID-19 financial measures. First, a working group will be established to systematically and regularly monitor various indicators on virus prevention and quarantine, the real economy and financial sectors. Based on the working groups diagnosis
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Apr 01, 2021

Insurance Costs to be Lowered and Choices Expanded for Designated Drivers

As a part of the governments efforts to improve the rights of essential workers, the FSC announced that the insurance cost burdens of designated drivers will be lowered with more choices offered for personal insurance subscription online. Beginning in April, the number of designated driver matching agencies joining the designated drivers personal insurance checking system will be expanded to cover nearly eighty to ninety percent of the market. This will help resolve the problem of designated drivers who already carry personal insurance having to subscribe for another group insurance coverage through a driver matching agency. Previously, the agencies had no mechanism of checking whether the listed drivers were carrying their own personal insurance coverage, so that they required drivers to subscribe to group insurance coverage offered through their agency. On the part of designated drivers with personal coverage, this resulted in heavy cost burdens as well as duplication in insurance coverage. As more agencies are joining the system, the cost burdens of designated drivers who are listed through multiple agencies will be lowered by about KRW1 million per year. In addition, there will be expanded choices and increased convenience for designated drivers as insurers will begin to offer online subscription services with lower premiums beginning on April 6. * Please refer to the attached PDF for details.
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Apr 01, 2021

FSC Chairman Meets with Bank Chiefs and Urges Cooperation on Consumer Safeguard Measures

FSC Chairman Eun Sung-soo held a meeting with heads of major banks on April 1 to discuss various issues and seek cooperation on the implementation of new consumer safeguard measures. At the meeting, Chairman Eun talked about the heightened responsibilities of banks as well as the more deliberate sales process that is required by the new consumer safeguard measures which can be cumbersome to both consumers and bank employees. To help resolve this problem, Chairman Eun suggested that financial institutions can inform their customers about the changes taking place in a more proactive manner to mitigate confusions and quickly become accustomed to the new practices. In this regard, Chairman Eun said that the authorities will provide active support through close communication with the industry. Chairman Eun also spoke about other issues with bank chiefs, such as the extension of maturity extension and payment deferral for small merchants and SMEs, taking into account businesses potential for recovery when evaluating their credit ratings, the household debt management plan, expanding the contribution base for microfinance services, strengthening efforts for vishing prevention and working to stamp out speculation in the real estate market. * Please refer to the attached PDF for details.
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Mar 31, 2021

Legal Framework on the Supervision of Non-holding Groups to Allow Preemptive Risk Management

The FSC introduced the supervisory regulation on non-holding financial groups on March 31 as a final step in setting up the legal framework on the supervision of financial conglomerates. The FSC first introduced the best practice guidelines on the supervision of financial conglomerates in July 2018 and has carried out oversight on the financial soundness of non-holding financial groups through administrative guidance. The enactment of the new legislation (the Act hereinafter) in December 2020 paved the way for establishing legal foundations for the supervision of non-holding financial groups.As the Act is scheduled to go into effect on June 30, 2021, the authorities will put up the supervisory regulation for advance notice from April 1 to April 21, scheduled to go into effect on the same day as the Act after an approval from the FSC. The supervisory regulation contains specific details about the designation of non-holding groups, internal control and risk management requirements, capital adequacy standards, rules and procedures for reporting and disclosure and assessment criteria for risk management. The new legal framework on the supervision of financial conglomerates takes into account international standards as well as the regulatory experiences gained from the past two years. The authorities expect that the new Act will help enhance the management of group-wide risks in a more systematic and effective way, thereby allowing a more preemptive management of systemic risks in the financial markets. * Please refer to the attached PDF for details.
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Mar 31, 2021

Improving Rules on Credit Business to Expand Financing Opportunities for Lower Income Groups

The FSC announced its plans to improve rules on credit business to make sure that financing opportunities are sufficiently provided to lower income groups even after the four percentage point reduction in maximum legal lending rate takes effect in July. Along the same line, the authorities will continue to work on the measures to stamp out illegal predatory lending as planned. Key Measures I. Lowering fees to help reduce lending costs The maximum brokerage fees will be lowered by one percentage point. For loans of up to KRW5 million, the fee will be reduced from four percent to three percent. For loans in excess of KRW5 million, the current fee of KRW200,000 plus three percent of the amount in excess of KRW5 million will be reduced to KRW150,000 plus two percent of the amount in excess of KRW5 million. II. Easing Regulations on Selective Credit Businesses Among the registered entities, the authorities will select credit businesses that have no records of violating regulations and are focused on lending to lower income groups to offer them an array of regulatory incentives with the aim of ultimately making more credit lending opportunities available to lower income groups. The incentives will include fundraising opportunities through banks, allowing their loan services to be put up on online loan brokerage platforms along with the mainstream loans and increasing the total asset threshold from the current tenfold of equity capital. III. Improving Efficiency in Consumer Protection through Tightened Supervision Regulatory supervision will be strengthened to close loopholes in consumer protection. For the registered entities, the authorities will seek to introduce new monetary sanctions in place of the current three-month suspension of business operation, prevent unfair lending contracts by strengthening supervision on loan agreements and newly create a registration qualification that requires credit businesses to maintain a minimum number of regular employees. Other mea
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Mar 30, 2021

FSC Announces Plans to Improve and Diversify Microfinance Services

The FSC announced plans to expand and diversify microfinance opportunities for individuals with low credit backgrounds on March 30 as a follow-up to the announcement on the revised maximum legal lending rate that is scheduled to go into effect from July 7. Key Details I. Expanding Microfinance Opportunities - Temporarily provide KRW300 billion in alternative lending options for those who currently use loans with interest rates above the twenty percent threshold - Provide a two percent reduction in interest rates for Sunshine Loan 17and expand incentives for those paying back diligently - Increase the availability of Sunshine Loan Youth by KRW100 billion and temporarily provide KRW5 million in lump-sum payment to new users - Improve the employment-based microloan product for individuals with low credit standing and low income II. Introducing New Microfinance Opportunities - Expand the contribution base (which is currently limited to mutual finance and savings banks only) and establish a steady fundraising structure for microfinance services by opening up the scope of contributors to all financial sectors including banks, insurers, credit finance firms, etc. - Launch a new banking sector-based microloan product (Sunshine Loan Bank) which will help build a bridge to the mainstream finance sector through credit score improvements, etc. - Launch a new credit finance sector-based microloan product (Sunshine Loan Card) which will help improve convenience for those with low credit standing III. Improving Effectiveness of Microfinance - Strengthen connection between microfinance and welfare, employment and debt adjustment programs - Strengthen connection between microfinance and financial education, credit debt management consulting, etc. -Strengthen connection between microfinance and the automatic dormant account inquiry system, etc. * Please refer to the attached PDF for details.
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Mar 30, 2021

Authorities to Closely Monitor Illegal and Suspicious Activities Linked to Property Market Speculation

Vice Chairman Doh Kyu-sang presided over the kick-off meeting of the special financial response team on March 30 as a part of the government-wide effort to root out speculation in the real estate market. The financial response team will be chaired by the Vice Chairman of the FSC and made up of about one hundred officials from the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU), Financial Supervisory Service, Korean Federation of Banks and Korea Credit Information Services. It will serve as a financial sector control tower in the governments efforts to prevent speculation in the real estate market. More specifically, the special financial response team will carry out inspections on lending practices, suspicious transactions and so on while also looking into areas for regulatory improvements. At the meeting, Vice Chairman Doh stated that controlling speculation in the property market remains one of the top priorities of the financial sector and laid out following agendas for the operation of the team. First, the authorities will carry out inspections on existing loans that are suspected to be linked to speculation and report immediately to the investigative authority upon finding any unlawful activities. Second, in close coordination with the real estate market monitoring agency that is soon to be established, the authorities will set up a monitoring system that targets particular regions and financial institutions with sudden hikes in suspected cases. Until then, the KoFIU will maintain close monitoring and share relevant information with the investigative authority. Third, there will be stringent penalties without exception when violations are found in the process of issuing land loans. Fourth, the authorities will work to improve the relevant rules on non-housing mortgage loans and include the measures in the household debt management plan that is expected to be announced in April. * Please refer to the attached PDF for details.
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Mar 30, 2021

New Regulations on Stock Short Selling to Take Effect from April 6

The government approved the revisions to the Enforcement Decree of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act (FSCMA) during a cabinet meeting held on March 30. The amendments and the revised FSCMAwill take effect on April 6. (Penalty standards) The revised FSCMA created the imposition of penalty surcharges on illegal short sale activities. Specific amounts for monetary sanctions will be determined through comprehensive consideration of the total amount of short orders and profits gained from the illegal short sale activity. (Record keeping requirement on securities lending agreements) The revised FSCMA requires short sellers to keep their securities lending agreements for five years to be presented promptly to the relevant authorities upon request. As such, the Enforcement Decree will be revised to prescribe specific criteria to be maintained, including information on stock items, number of shares, transaction dates, counterparties, lending periods, fee rates, etc. It also requires the maintenance of transactions data stored in an electronic transaction processing platform or other format that is not susceptible for alteration. (Restriction on short sellers participation in capital increase) The revised FSCMA restricts short sellers from participating in a companys capital increase via issuing new shares once the company has made such a plan public, except in certain cases. As such, the Enforcement Decree will be revised to determine a specific time period wherein the short sellers participation in capital increase is restricted as well as specific cases for exception as specified below. If an investor has shorted a companys stocks during the restriction period, the investor cannot participate in the companys capital increase, except for the cases where the short selling is deemed to have no unjust effects on the issuing price as stated below. - Restriction Period: From one day after the disclosure of the companys capital increase plan until the dete
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Mar 30, 2021

Maximum Legal Lending Rate to be Lowered from 24% to 20% from July 7

The FSC announced that the maximum legal lending rate will be lowered from the current twenty-four percent to twenty percent starting from July 7 this year as the government approved the amendments to the relevant lawsduring a cabinet meeting held on March 30. In order to minimize the possibility of negative impact on individuals with low credit scores, the FSC plans to make available a sufficient level of microfinancing opportunities to vulnerable groups, improve rules on credit businesses while working to prevent illegal predatory lending practices and work to expand the supply of mid-range interest rate loans to borrowers with low credit standing. Financial institutions and credit businesses are encouraged to reduce their lending rates in excess of the twenty percent limit on a voluntary basis. The authorities will closely monitor the lending rates while working to inform the public about the change in the maximum lending rate. * Please refer to the attached PDF for details.
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Mar 29, 2021

FSC Chairman Vows Continued Support for SMEs

FSC Chairman Eun Sung-soo visited the newly opened financial support center at the Korea Federation of SMEs on March 29 and held talks on the governments efforts in providing financial support to SMEs. The following is a summary of Chairman Euns remarks. The government has made various types of financial support available for SMEs and small merchants. It has abolished the joint and several liability by state-backed lending institutions and strengthened the provision of venture capital to promising SMEs and venture firms. To help with the COVID-19 crisis, maturity extensions and payment deferrals were made available from all financial sectors since April of last year. The recently announced six-month extension of maturity extension and payment deferral as well as the governments plan for a gradual normalization have taken into account various comments from SMEs and small merchants. As such, the authorities will work to ensure that these support measures are effectively implemented. For SMEs, there are growing concerns over deterioration in borrowing conditions, as their credit ratings will reflect last years decreased sales performance which may cause higher borrowing rates. To help mitigate these concerns, the authorities are in close consultation with the financial sectors. First, for SMEs undergoing a temporary hardship due to a worsening of business environment but are expected to bounce back soon after, their potential for recovery will be sufficiently taken into account when assessing their credit ratings. Second, for SMEs experiencing an unavoidable fall in credit rating, the authorities will work to minimize the impact on their maximum borrowing cap, interest rate, etc. Moreover, the government will work on measures to prepare for a post-pandemic economy. To help relieve the payment burdens after the expiration of maturity extension and payment deferral, consulting services will be provided to SMEs and small merchants to allow long-term installment payments b
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Mar 29, 2021

Financial Authorities to Strengthen Monitoring and Detection of Fraudulent Activities

The FSC held a meeting on the prevention of fraudulent and illegitimate activities in financial services with the relevant institutions on March 26 and discussed ways to strengthen prevention, detection and punishment of fraudulent activities and to improve consumer remedies. The authorities decided to set a special response period from March 29 to June 30 this year in order to strengthen monitoring and detection of fraudulent activities. The government will also continue to work on improving regulations through legislative efforts. Key Tasks (Investment Advising via Social Media) Carry out a joint monitoring and inspection on stock investment advising activities that utilize social networking services and operate special investigation teams focusing on particular stock items (Fundraising Conducted by Unregistered Entities) Expand the scope of punishable activities to include the act of providing disinformation on illegitimate financial products and misrepresenting them as legitimate and of promising a profit on illegitimate products (Vishing) Strengthen prevention and detection of vishing scams through a closely coordinated information sharing system between the relevant institutions and send out public alerts about new vishing scams (Illegal Predatory Lending) Provide support to the victims of illegal predatory lending by helping to recover interest payments in excess of the maximum interest rate that is permitted by the law * Please refer to the attached PDF for details.
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Mar 25, 2021

FSC to Closely Monitor Market Situations and Gradually Roll Back Crisis Response Measures

Vice Chairman Doh Kyu-sang held the 37th financial risk assessment meeting via teleconference on March 25 and discussed the progress in the implementation of the COVID-19 financial support for small merchants and SMEs. The following is a summary of Vice Chairman Dohs remarks. (Pandemic Response Measures) In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government implemented a KRW175 trillion-plus emergency financial support package to provide support for small merchants and SMEs, stabilize financial markets and help businesses in key industries with liquidity shortages. Thanks to the active support shown by the financial institutions, markets quickly bounced back and financial difficulties experienced by small merchants and other vulnerable groups began to ease. On the Korean governments bold response to the crisis situation, the IMF in January this year released a positive assessment, and the OECDs recent growth forecast expects Korea to achieve a full recovery within this year. Bold and preemptive responses were effective given that the scale of policy response had to exceed market expectation at a time when extreme anxieties were spreading across markets. However, with signs of an economic recovery in the US, inflation expectations have been rising as well as the long-term bond yields. In this regard, the government will closely monitor market situations and work on preemptive management to prepare for a possible rate hike in domestic markets. In addition, there have been growing concerns about inappropriate trading activities in stock markets. There are active discussions going on in this regard at the National Assembly to strengthen penalties on unfair and inappropriate trading activities, such as price rigging. The government will closely cooperate with the relevant institutions to work on the prevention of inappropriate trading activities. (Maturity Extension Payment Deferral) Since April 1 of last year, all financial institutions made available maturity extensions
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Mar 24, 2021

FSCMA Revisions for Improving Rules on PEFs Passed by the National Assembly

The National Assembly of the Republic of Korea passed the amendments to the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act during a plenary session on March 24, with aims to improve the rules on private equity funds. The amendments will go through an approval process at a cabinet meeting prior to the pronouncement and will take effect six months thereafter. The amendments introduce stronger protection measures for retail investors in the PEF market. The amendments to the FSCMA passed by the National Assembly represent an integrated version of various proposals and are the result of the governments efforts to improve rules on PEFs and strengthen investor protection with high-risk investment products. The FSC will work on revising lower regulations to achieve the intended goals. Key Revisions I. New PEF Classification The current PEF classification system that places distinctions between the professional investment type and the management participation type based on the purpose of fund management will be changed. The new classification system will place distinctions depending on the scope of investment entities. II. Safeguards for Retail Investors The revised FSCMA contains stronger safeguards for retail investors making investments in general PEFs as follows. - PEF sellers will be required to check whether the PEFs they sold are being managed by management firms according to their prospectus requirements. - PEF trust agencies, such as banks and prime brokerage service providers, will be subject to tighter monitoring requirements on PEFs. - PEFs with certain sizeswill be subject to external audits to help improve the fairness in valuation while all PEF management firms will be required to provide quarterly asset management reports to investors. - Stronger liquidity management measures will be introduced to prevent maturity mismatches, etc. III. PEF Management Rules The rules governing the management of both general PEFs and institution-only PEFs will be identic
Mar 24, 2021

Application Opens for Participating Businesses to the 2021 Korea Fintech Week

The FSC announced that the application for the 3rd Korea Fintech Week will be open from March 24 to April 7 for prospective businesses wishing to showcase their innovative fintech services. The 2021 Korea Fintech Week is scheduled to be held from May 26 to 28 under the theme of fintech and sustainable financial innovation. The offline to online (O2O) international fintech expo will provide diverse promotional, vocational, educational and networking programs and opportunities that will help raise awareness on fintechs and accelerate financial innovation. The event will feature five online exhibition halls and two online job fair halls. More than one hundred fintech firms will be given opportunities to present their services in five virtual exhibition hallsthe fintech start-up hall, fintech scale-up hall, fintech supporter hall, financial enterprise hall and global enterprise hall. The online job fair halls will be hosted by some forty business entities and include both financial companies and fintechs. While there are no participation fees, participating businesses need to prepare their own digital promotional materials. Application will be accepted from 9:00 am Wednesday, March 24 until 6:00 pm Wednesday, April 7. Prospective participants should download the application form from www.fintech.or.kr and submit their applications along with supporting materials via email at fintechweek@fintech.or.kr. The selection results will be announced on Friday, April 16 at www.fintech.or.kr. * Please refer to the attached PDF for details.
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Mar 18, 2021

Revised Rules on PEFs to Bolster Investor Protection and Enhance Regulatory Supervision

The FSC approved the revisions to the regulation on financial investment services on March 17 as a follow-up measure to the effort to improve the regulatory framework on private equity funds announced on April 27, 2020.The revised rules will go into effect from March 18, 2021 unless otherwise noted below. Key Revisions a) Strengthen rules on the management of cross trading and leveraged schemes, such as total return swaps (TRS) b) Strengthen oversight over inappropriate sales practices by prohibiting the management of PEFs in violation of prospectus requirements c) Bolster the minimum equity capital requirement for professional PEF management firms d) Require asset management firms to report compliance on their internal control and risk management duties and expand their reporting duties on PEFs to include risks and risk management status * Please refer to the attached PDF for details.
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Mar 17, 2021

New Legislation on Financial Consumer Protection to Take Effect from March 25

The FSC approved the supervisory regulation on financial consumer protection on March 17 as a necessary final step for the implementation of the newly enacted Financial Consumer Protection Act beginning on March 25, 2021. The implementation of the Financial Consumer Protection Act will (a) expand the application of the six major sales regulations to all financial products, (b) require financial institutions to set up internal control standards for consumer protection, (c) introduce punitive fines of up to KRW100 billion as well as tougher criminal penalties, (d) expand consumer rights for subscription withdrawal and cancellation of unfair and illegitimate contracts, and (e) strengthen measures for consumer remedies. Although the new law will go into effect from March 25, certain aspects of the measures that require more preparation, such as setting up internal control standards or system development, the application of new regulations will be deferred for six months. In the meantime, the authorities plan to hold a series of information sessions to make sure that both the consumers and financial businesses across different sectors are well informed about the specifics of the new law. The financial authorities will continue to provide support and work to ensure a smooth implementation of the new law on financial consumer protection. * Please refer to the attached PDF for details.
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