Press Releases - Financial Services Commission

Press Releases

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Apr 24, 2023

FSC and KAI Participate in First Meeting of Sustainability Standards Advisory Forum

The FSC and the Korea Accounting Institute (KAI) participated in the first meeting of the Sustainability Standards Advisory Forum (SSAF), an official advisory body of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), on April 17 in Frankfurt, Germany. At the first meeting, members discussed the progress in the development of the IFRS S1 (general sustainability-related disclosure requirements) and S2 (climate-related disclosure requirements), future standards setting priorities and the connectivity and compatibility between the ISSBs sustainability disclosure standards and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB)s accounting standards. In March last year, the ISSB published its draft IFRS S1 and S2 and collected feedback from around the world. For crucial issues raised in the comment process, the ISSB will go through a re-deliberation before announcing financial standards at the end of June this year. The International Organization of Securities Commission (IOSCO) is also expected to decide whether to endorse them when the final standards are made public. The SSAFs first meeting also dealt with the areas of future standard setting priorities. The ISSB has already identified four potential projectsbiodiversity, ecosystems and ecosystem services; human capital; human rights; and integration in reportingas future standard setting priorities. In May this year, the ISSB plans to announce its agenda priorities for the next two years and seek feedback. The SSAF meeting provides an important venue for Korea to directly engage with the ISSB and other countries and strengthen international cooperation on sustainability disclosure standards. The SSAF meeting is held four times annually and the next meeting is expected to be held in July. The FSC and the KAI plan to continue to actively participate in global discussions on sustainability disclosure standards. In the meantime, authorities will also work on developing ESG disclosure standards in Korea as the ESG
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Apr 10, 2023

Household Loans, March 2023

In March 2023, the outstanding balance of household loansacross all financial sectors declined KRW5.0 trillion, showing a continuing trend of decline. Financial authorities will work to ensure a stable management of household debt and keep close tabs on potential risks that may be caused by high interest rates. (Overall) Household loans across all financial sectors fell KRW5.0 trillion in March 2023. The year-on-year change rate (down 1.4 percent) accelerated somewhat compared to a month ago (down 1.3 percent), showing a continuing trend of decline since the second half of last year. (By Type) Mortgage loans edged up from a decline in the previous month and other types of loans fell at a faster pace. - (Mortgage Loans) Mortgage loans rose KRW1.0 trillion with a grow in the banking sector (up KRW2.3 trillion) and a decline in the nonbanking sector (down KRW1.3 trillion). - (Other Types of Loans) Other types of loans fell KRW6.0 trillion, declining at a faster pace compared to the previous month (down KRW4.7 trillion), led by credit loans (down KRW3.2 trillion). (By Sector) Household loans edged down in both the banking and nonbanking sectors. -(Banking Sector) Household loans in the banking sector fell KRW0.7 trillion in March, declining at a slower pace compared to a month ago (down KRW2.7 trillion). Mortgage loans from banks grew KRW2.3 trillion as the volume of policy mortgage loans increased (up KRW7.4 trillion), but jeonse loans (down KRW2.3 trillion), group lending for new apartment subscription (down KRW0.9 trillion) and general individual mortgage loans (down KRW1.9 trillion) all declined. Other types of loans in the banking sector fell KRW2.9 trillion as credit loans went down KRW2.3 trillion. -(Nonbanking Sector) Nonbanks saw a drop of KRW4.4 trillion in household loans with a slight increase in insurance companies (up KRW0.4 trillion) and declines in mutual finance companies (down KRW4.0 trillion), specialized credit finance companies (down KRW0.4 trillion
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Apr 03, 2023

Call Option and Refixing Rules to be Applied on Convertible Preference Shares

The FSC announced that the same call option and refixing rules currently applied on convertible bonds (CBs) will begin to apply on (redeemable) convertible preference shares issued by listed companies from May 1. As a follow-up to the previously introduced plan to improve the rules on the convertible bond market announced in September last year, the FSC completed revising the regulation on securities issuance and disclosures on March 29. The revised regulation deals with the rules regarding call option and refixing. First, it places a limit on exercising call options by largest shareholders within the level of their initial shareholding proportion at the time of the issuance of (redeemable) convertible preference shares. Also, when a call option is exercised by a third party, the issuing company will be required to disclose that information. Second, the revised regulation contains refixing rules for (redeemable) convertible preference shares issued through private offering by listed companies. This makes it mandatory to set an upward adjustment of convertible price if share prices rise after a downward adjustment of convertible price following a drop in share prices. Along with the previously introduced (Dec. 2021) regulatory improvements on CBs, this regulatory change on (redeemable) convertible preference shares is expected to help prevent cases where these bonds and stocks are utilized as an expedient way for largest shareholders to expand their shareholding status. This regulatory change will take effect from May 1, applicable for (redeemable) convertible preference shares decided to be issued by company boards from then on. The FSC and the FSS will continue to closely examine market situations and seek additional measures to improve the rules on the convertible bond and (redeemable) convertible preference share market. * Please refer to the attached PDF for details.
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Apr 03, 2023

English Disclosures to be Provided by Large Listed Companies from 2024

From 2024, large listed companies will be required to submit English disclosures on material information within three days from filing their regulatory disclosures in Korean at the Korea Exchange (KRX). The FSC and the KRX announced that relevant regulatory revision process has been completed to implement the English disclosure requirement from 2024, as part of the previously announced plan to expand English disclosures in phases which aims to ultimately boost foreign investors accessibility to Korean capital markets. According to this plan, English disclosures on material information will become mandatory for KOSPI-listed companies in two phases (2024-2025 and from 2026) starting with large listed firms. A variety of support programs to promote an expansion of English disclosures will also be made available. The KRXs revised disclosure rules deal with provisions needed to implement the first stage mandatory English disclosures as follows. From 2024, KOSPI-listed firms 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. Although foreign shareholders make up a large part of Korean capital markets,inadequate provision of information in English has been identified as a problem. Through this plan, authorities expect that English disclosures will be expanded which will help to improve information accessibility for foreign investors and strengthen global competitiveness of Korean capital markets. To facilitate an expansion of English disclosures, the KRX will provide diverse support programs such as offering incentives to businesses that submit outstanding disclosures in English, increasing the availability of translation service provided by professional translation firms and introducing guidelines on English discl
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Mar 20, 2023

KoFIU Unveils H2 2022 Survey Result on Virtual Asset Service Providers

The Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU) conducted a survey on 36 registered virtual asset service providers (VASPs) in order to ascertain the current state of the domestic virtual asset market. Survey Overview (Respondents) 36 VASPs (27 exchange service providers and 9 other businesses) (Survey Method) Data collected from VASPs by paper surveys (Period Covered) July 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022 Key Survey Findings for H2 2022 The domestic market for virtual assets in H2 2022 was downsized significantly compared to that of H1 2022 in terms of market capitalization, trading volume, operating profits, etc.This seems to be caused by a contraction in the real economy due to interest rate and price hikes, as well as a decline in confidence following the Luna crash and the collapse of FTX. According to the survey, the amount of deposits in KRW and the number of users, which show potential investment demands in the future, both declined. Investment in the global top ten virtual assets, such as Bitcoin, handled by the KRW-based exchange service providers increased from 46 percent in H1 2022 to 57 percent in H2 2022 (up about 11 percentage points), which is greater than that in non-mainstream virtual assets. New listing of virtual assets also dropped significantly by about 72 percent compared to H1 2022, showing a tendency of VASPs conducting their operations more conservatively following the Terra-Luna crash. The newly analyzed items in the H2 2022 survey include the reason for suspending transaction (delisting of a virtual asset) and the VASPs compliance status with the travel rule.In H2 2022, the most prevalent reasons for delisting of virtual assets were in the order of project risk (50 percent), investor protection risk (22 percent) and market risk (22 percent). The amount of transactions between domestic VASPs that were subject to the travel rule amounted to KRW7.5 trillion, about 25 percent of all VASPs external transfer volume (KRW30.6 trillion) in H2 2022. The
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Mar 09, 2023

Household Loans, February 2023

In February 2023, the outstanding balance of household loansacross all financial sectors declined KRW5.4 trillion compared to last month (m-o-m). The year-on-year change rate also dropped at a greater level (down 1.3 percent) compared to last month (down 1.3 percent), which showed a continuing trend of decline. Financial authorities will closely monitor household debt situation to keep it at a stable level, while continuing to inspect whether there exist any risks to household debt caused by high interest rates. (Overall) Household loans across all financial sectors dropped KRW5.4 trillion in February 2023. The year-on-year change rate (down 1.3 percent) declined at a faster pace compared to the previous month (down 1.0 percent in January), showing a continuing trend of decline since the second half of last year. (By Type) Mortgage loans (m-o-m) dropped for two consecutive months, and other types of loans also continued to decline. - (Mortgage Loans) Mortgage loans fell KRW0.6 trillion as both the banking sector and the nonbanking sector saw a drop of KRW0.3 trillion each. - (Other Types of Loans) Other types of loans fell KRW4.8 trillion, led by credit loans (down KRW2.5 trillion), but the pace of decline was slower compared to the previous month (down KRW7.1 trillion in January). (By Sector) Household loans edged down in both the banking and nonbanking sectors. - (Banking Sector) Household loans in the banking sector declined KRW2.7 trillion in February. Regarding mortgage loans, banks saw a growth in policy mortgage loans (up KRW1.0 trillion) and general individual mortgage loans (up KRW0.7 trillion), but a drop in jeonse loans (down KRW2.5 trillion),which resulted in a decline of banks mortgage loans for the first time since relevant statistics began to be collected in 2015. Other types of loans from banks dropped KRW2.4 trillion, led by credit loans (down KRW1.9 trillion), but the pace of decline slowed compared to the previous month. - (Nonbanking Sector) Nonb
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Mar 08, 2023

SFC Imposes Penalty Surcharge on Violation of Short Selling Regulation for First Time

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), a sub-commission of the FSC responsible for the oversight of the securities and futures market, reached a decision on March 8 to impose penalty surcharges of KRW3.87 billion and KRW2.18 billion on company A and company B, respectively, for their naked short selling activities, which violate the regulations on short sales prescribed in Article 180(1) of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act (FSCMA). Previously, illegal short selling activities were handled with administrative fine or caution. This is the first instance where authorities are imposing penalty surcharge on entities who committed those activities. While closely cooperating with relevant institutions, authorities will continue to maintain effective market monitoring, detection and investigation system on violation of regulations against short sales, and continue to strictly penalize illegal activities. Summary of Violation and Details of Discussion a) Company A had recorded on its internal system some amount of ◇◇◇ stocks that are expected to be issued through a capital increase without consideration before they are actually issued, in order to assess the value of its funds. Then, perceiving the stock as those can be sold, the company submitted sell orders on 210,744 ordinary shares (KRW25.14 billion) of ◇◇◇, which the fund had no ownership of, within a certain period in 2021. This was in violation of the regulation that prohibits naked short selling. b) Company B had erroneously entered the information of the borrowed △△▽ stocks, the name of which is similar to that of △△△ stocks, into its balance management system. Then, based on this overstated balance, the company submitted sell orders on 27,374 ordinary shares (KRW7.329 billion) of △△▽ stocks (which the company actually had no ownership of) on a certain day in 2021. This was in violation of the regulation that prohibits naked short selling. As this is the f
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Mar 03, 2023

Interest Rate Disclosure to be Expanded in Banking Sector to Promote Competition

Financial authorities announced a plan to expand banks disclosure of the differences between interest rates on deposits and loans at the 1st working group meeting of the taskforce on improving the management and operating practices of banks and banking system held on March 2. The following are specific measures of the plan. a) Along with the current comparative disclosure on the differences between interest rates on newly transacted deposits and loans across different banks, the banking sector will additionally provide comparative public disclosure on the differences between interest rates on outstanding balance of deposits and loans among different banks, which will show the profitability level of each bank. In addition, the banking sector will also provide information on detailed interest rate of loans (household loans, business loans, etc.) and deposits based on outstanding balances. b) Interest rates on jeonse loans, which are highly relevant to peoples daily life, offered by individual banks will be comparatively disclosed in order to facilitate clear comparison of interest rates on jeonse loans (interest rates on home mortgages and credit loans are currently being disclosed). c) The banking sector will comparatively disclose individual banks interest rates on household loans in a more detailed manner, which subdivide them into base rate, spread, and preferential rate, intended to help customers compare respective characteristics of banks interest rates calculation. d) Each bank will voluntarily add a new webpage to put up explanations of the factors that bring about changes in their interest rates, such as expansion of loans to low- and mid- credit borrowers or increased ratio of short-term bank borrowings. Authorities plan to revise the detailed regulations on supervision of banking business and set up a computer network system between the Korea Federation of Banks and individual banks with a goal to begin implementation of these measures in July this year.
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Feb 28, 2023

Fast-Track System to be Utilized Effectively in Investigation of Unfair Trading Activities

The FSC, the FSS, the Korea Exchange and Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office held a joint council meetingon February 27. At the meeting, authorities discussed and reviewed the outcome of operating the fast-track system in handling unfair trading activities in 2022. The fast-track system, introduced in 2013, is an emergency measure by Chair of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in which a case deemed urgent and significant can be referred to the prosecutors office without going through the SFCs deliberation. If a case under investigation by the FSC or the FSS is deemed to have urgent need of the prosecutors investigation due to concerns about a suspect fleeing or a potential destruction of evidence, SFC Chair can decide to quickly refer the case to the prosecutors office after consulting with relevant authorities. In 2022, the FSC and the FSS referred a total of 20 casesto Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office through the fast-track system, leading to prosecution of numerous offenders within short periods of time. In order to more effectively respond to unfair trading activities, which are becoming more sophisticated and organized, authorities will strengthen cooperation among related agencies and concentrate more investigative capacity on major cases that have a potential to inflict significant losses to investors. By utilizing the fast-track system, authorities will take swift and stern responses against major cases involving unfair trading activities, and make continuous efforts to improve the operation of the fast-track system. Major Fast-Tracked Cases in 2022 [Case #1] Case involving circulation of false information about COVID-19 test kit and sale of company stocks at high price for profiteering (Case Summary) The offenders (a) acquired a KOSDAQ-listed company (company A) through a leveraged buyout (LBO: MA without own capital), (b) then spread a rumorabout company As COVID-19 test kit to drastically push up its stock price,and (c) sold the
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Feb 09, 2023

Household Loans, January 2023

In January 2023, the outstanding balance of household loansacross all financial sectors declined KRW8.0 trillion (m-o-m) and the growth rate also dropped at a faster pace (down 1.0 percent, y-o-y), showing a strong trend of decline. Financial authorities will ensure stable management of household debt and continue to seamlessly implement the normalization of relevant loan regulations to help non-speculative homebuyers. (Overall) Household loans across all financial sectors dropped KRW8.0 trillion in January 2023. The year-on-year growth rate (down 1.0 percent) declined at a faster pace compared to the previous month (down 0.5 percent), showing a continuous trend of slowing down. (By Type) Mortgage loans went down month-on-month for the first time since relevant statistics became available in 2015, and the rate of decline for other types of loans has also increased. - (Mortgage Loans) Mortgage loans fell KRW0.6 trillion in January, led by jeonse loans (down KRW1.8 trillion) and home-backed mortgage loans from nonbank sectors (down KRW0.6 trillion) such as mutual finance. - (Other Types of Loans) Other types of loans fell KRW7.4 trillion, as the rate of the decline increased compared to the previous month (down KRW5.2 trillion), led by credit loans. (By Sector) Household loans edged down in both the banking and nonbanking sectors. -(Banking Sector) Household loans in the banking sector declined KRW4.6 trillion in January. Regarding mortgage loans, banks saw a growth in government-sponsored mortgage lending (up KRW1.7 trillion) and group lending for new apartment subscription (up KRW0.3 trillion), but a drop in jeonse loans (down KRW1.8 trillion).Other types of loans from banks dropped KRW4.6 trillion, declining at a faster pace from a month ago (down KRW2.9 trillion) led by credit loans (down KRW3.8 trillion). -(Nonbanking Sector) In January, nonbanks saw a drop of KRW3.4 trillion in household loans with a slight rise in savings banks (up KRW0.1 trillion) but declines
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Jan 26, 2023

SFC Imposes Penalty Surcharge on Overseas-based Financial Investment Entity for Market Disturbance

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), a sub-commission of the FSC responsible for the oversight of the securities and futures market, decided on January 26 to impose a penalty surcharge of KRW11.88 billion on an overseas-based financial investment business entity (securities firm A hereinafter) for disturbing market order with its high-frequency algorithmic trading activities. This is the first instance in Korea where authorities reached a decision to impose a penalty surcharge for market disturbance caused by high-frequency algorithmic trading activities.With the growth in the volume of high-frequency algorithmic transactions recently, financial authorities will continuously strengthen the administration of market risks associated with them. Overview The SFC recognized that securities firm A engaged in an activity of disturbing market order in its transactions of a total of 264 stock items in 6,796 trading periods via a Seoul-based securities firm (securities firm B) between October 2017 and May 2018, and decided to impose a penalty surcharge of KRW11.88 billion on securities firm A, pursuant to the Article 429-2 of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act (FSCMA). Violation Securities firm A engaged in trading activities using its algorithmic trading system, which enables it to acquire and analyze data on price quotation and trade executions as well as submit buy and sell orders via direct market access (DMA)more quickly than ordinary retail investors. In the process, securities firm A placed orders intensively and repetitively within a short period of time in the following pattern(a) placing immediate-or-cancel (IOC)buy market orders to exhaust all quantities of best ask prices in succession, and (b) submitting buy limit orders on any remaining unfilled quantity where there is no bid price given in order to newly generate the best bid price (inflating bid price) and then cancelling such transactions. Thus, a suspicion was raised that secur
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Jan 12, 2023

Household Loans, 2022

The outstanding balance of household loansacross all financial sectors dropped KRW8.7 trillion in 2022, declining for the first time since relevant statistics became available in 2015.Household loans in December 2022 fell KRW3.4 trillion, showing a continuing trend of a slowdown.Financial authorities will work to seamlessly implement the normalization of loan regulations, while continuing to stably managehousehold debt. Household Loan Trend in 2022 (Overall) Household loans across all financial sectors dropped KRW8.7 trillion in 2022. The growth rate (down 0.5 percent, y-o-y) fell for the first time since relevant statistics began to be collected in 2015. (By Type) Mortgage loans grew at a slower rate and the balance of other types of loans edged down, which led to the overall drop in household loans in 2022. - (Mortgage Loans) Mortgage loans grew KRW27.0 trillion in 2022, led by group lending for new apartment subscription and jeonse loans, but the pace of growth decelerated compared to the previous year (up KRW69.2 trillion). - (Other Types of Loans) Other types of loans fell KRW35.6 trillion in 2022, due to drops in credit loans and non-housing collateral loans. The increase of KRW38.3 trillion in the previous year turned to a decline. (By Sector) Household loans in both the banking and nonbanking sectors dropped compared to the end of last year. - (Banking Sector) Banks saw a drop of KRW2.7 trillion in household loans in 2022. Mortgage loans from banks grew KRW20.0 trillion, led by group lending for new apartment subscription (up KRW9.4 trillion) and jeonse loans (up KRW8.4 trillion),but edged lower compared to the previous year (up KRW56.9 trillion). Other types of loans from banks fell KRW22.8 trillion, as credit loans edged down KRW18.8 trillion, switching to a decline from the growth of KRW14.7 trillion last year. - (Nonbanking Sector) In 2022, nonbanks saw a drop of KRW5.9 trillion in household loans with increases in insurance companies (up KRW3.7 trillion
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Dec 22, 2022

Korea Appointed as Inaugural Member of IFRS Sustainability Standards Advisory Forum

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Korea Accounting Institute (KAI) have been appointed by the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation as inaugural member institutions of the Sustainability Standards Advisory Forum (SSAF) representing Korea on December 21, 2022. The SSAF is established to support the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) to develop and revise IFRS sustainability disclosure standards. It will be comprised of relevant government authorities and standard-setting institutions from around the world. Including those from Korea, thirteen representatives of jurisdictions and regions from around the worldthe European Union, the UK, Canada, China, Japan, Brazil, etc.have been appointed as SSAFs inaugural members. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the European Commission (EC), the International Organization of Securities Commission (IOSCO) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) will also participate as official observers. From Korea, the FSC and the KAI have been appointed as joint members to the SSAF, and the Korean delegation will be led by Director Kim Kwang-il of the FSCs Fair Market Division. The FSC and the KAI will attend the SSAF meetings four times annually. In the standard-setting process, authorities will effectively relay various opinions from domestic industries, academia and experts on sustainability disclosure. The first meeting of the SSAF will be held at the ISSB head office in Frankfurt, Germany in the first quarter of 2023, and presumably, the final standards for the general sustainability-related disclosure requirements and the climate-related disclosure requirements that were previously announced in March 2022 as well as the ISSBs future standard-setting directions will be discussed. * Please refer to the attached PDF for details.
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Dec 20, 2022

Government Approves Revision Bill to Strengthen Rights of General Shareholders in Split-off of Listed Company

The government approved an amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act (FSCMA) at the state council held on December 20. This amendment is a follow-up to the measures to improve protection for general shareholders in IPO of split-off subsidiary announced on September 5. Key Details and Anticipated Effect Until the end of this year, all three layers of general shareholder protection system regarding IPO of split-off subsidiary become established and begin operation. With this system, it is expected that companies will pay sufficient attention to the rights and interests of general shareholders when they pursue a split-off and losses incurred to general shareholders in a split-off of a subsidiary, which has been pointed out repeatedly, will be effectively prevented. a) (Enhanced Disclosure) From October 18 this year, companies seeking to split off a subsidiary disclose their business restructuring plan including the purpose of split-off, anticipated effect, shareholder protection measures and listing plan on their material fact reports. - As a result, general shareholders and investors can get adequate information related to the split-off and make informed decisions at general meetings of shareholders, when exercising the right to request companies to purchase their shares and when making investments. b) (Right to Request Company to Purchase Shares) The amendment approved today grants shareholders, who dissent from the companys split-off decision, a rightto request that company purchase his or her stocks when the companys board of directors reaches a resolution to make a split-off. - If a majority of general shareholders is opposed to the split-off or that a potential drop in company value is triggered, pursuing a split-off in itself can be difficult. Therefore, in essence, listed companies can pursue a split-off only when they prepare shareholder protection measures in place and have convinced general shareholders
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Dec 08, 2022

Household Loans, November 2022

In November 2022, the outstanding balance of household loansacross all financial sectors declined KRW3.2 trillion (m-o-m). Household loans continued to show a declining trend as the year-on-year growth rate in November dropped for the first time since relevant statistics became available in 2015.Financial authorities will stably manage the grow rate of household debt and work to seamlessly implement the normalization of relevant loan regulations to help alleviate the difficulties of non-speculative homebuyers. (Overall) Household loans across all financial sectors dropped KRW3.2 trillion in November. The growth rate (down 0.3 percent, y-o-y) fell for the first time since relevant statistics began to be collected in 2015, which shows a sustaining trend of a slowdown since the second half of last year. (By Type) Mortgage loans grew at a slower rate and other types of loans fell more rapidly from the previous month, leading to acceleration in the overall pace of the decline in household loans. - (Mortgage Loans) Mortgage loans rose KRW0.5 trillion in November, growing at a slower rate compared to the previous month (up KRW2.0 trillion), led by jeonse loans. - (Other Types of Loans) Other types of loans declined at a faster rate (down KRW3.6 trillion) compared to a month ago (down KRW2.2 trillion), led by a drop in credit loans. (By Sector) Household loans in the banking sector continued to drop while the nonbanking sector also saw a shift to a decline. - (Banking Sector) Banks saw a drop of KRW1.1 trillion in household loans. Mortgage loans from banks grew KRW1.0 trillion,rising at a slower rate compared to the previous month (up KRW1.3 trillion), as government-sponsored mortgage lending and group lending for new apartment subscription went up KRW2.6 trillion and KRW0.6 trillion, respectively. Other types of loans from banks fell KRW2.0 trillion, declining at a faster rate compared to the previous month (down KRW1.9 trillion), led by a drop in credit loans (down KRW1.8
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Nov 14, 2022

Single-stop Online Loan Transfer System to be Set Up to Reduce Interest Burden on Consumers

The FSC announced its plan to set up a single-stop online loan transfer system on November 14 to help alleviate the burden of high interest rates on financial consumers. With recent interest rate increases, it is necessary to find ways to lessen financial consumers interest costs.The FSC plans to facilitate loan transfer,as one of these ways, allowing financial consumers to more easily swap their present loans to reduced interest rate loans. Current Market Situation Currently, there is not a lot of products for loan transfers in the personal loan market because of inconvenience for the loan applicants and lack of a relevant infrastructure.In the first place, the absence of a fully integrated online system in financial institutions has required the payment of existing loans in the offline mode,which results in time and costs for both financial consumers and financial institutions. Second, since there are very few platforms offering comparison services for loans and because there is a limited amount of information, namely, accurate information on the current loan, the cost (various fees when transferring loan) and the benefits (savings generated from lower interest rate), which can help consumers make informed decisions, borrowers still have a difficult time making a decision about the loan transfer. The FSC announced its plan to set up a single-stop online loan transfer system on November 14 to help alleviate the burden of high interest rates on financial consumers. With recent interest rate increases, it is necessary to find ways to lessen financial consumers interest costs.The FSC plans to facilitate loan transfer,as one of these ways, allowing financial consumers to more easily swap their present loans to reduced interest rate loans. Key Details of Plan a) Build an online loan transfer system between financial institutions The payment of the loan, from the request of payment to the provision of the necessary information and to the final confirmation of the payment
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Nov 10, 2022

FSC Introduces Revision to Supervisory Regulations to Ease Financing Burden of Homebuyers

The FSC will give advance notices of revision to several supervisory regulations between November 10 and 16 as a follow-up action to implement the housing market-related measures introduced at the 11th emergency economic meeting held on October 27 and the 3rd ministerial meeting on housing market held earlier today. The revised supervisory regulations stated below are expected to take effect from December 1, 2022. a) The loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is currently applied differentially for no-home or one-home owners in regulated areasby different locations and different price of houses. This will be raised to uniform application of 50 percent. b) Allow no-home or one-home owners who plan to purchase an apartment valued over KRW1.5 billion in designated speculation areas and high-speculation areas to finance their house with a mortgage loan. c) Raise the top LTV ratio for lower income and non-speculative homebuyerswho plan to purchase a house in regulated areas to up to 70 percent with the maximum loan amount of KRW600 million. * Please refer to the attached PDF for details.
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Nov 09, 2022

Household Loans, October 2022

In October 2022, the outstanding balance of household loansacross all financial sectors fell KRW0.2 trillion (m-o-m), declining for the second consecutive month from a month ago (down KRW1.2 trillion).Financial authorities will swiftly roll back relevant loan regulations to help alleviate difficulties of non-speculative homebuyers. At the same time, authorities will stably manage the grow rate of household debt. (Overall) Household loans across all financial sectors dropped KRW0.2 trillion in October. The growth rate (y-o-y) was 0.2 percent which continues to show a downward trend since the second half of 2021. (By Type) Mortgage loans increased at a faster rate than the previous month and other types of loans fell at a slower rate, leading to a slowdown in the pace of an overall decline in household loans. - (Mortgage Loans) Mortgage loans rose KRW2.0 trillion in October, growing at a slightly faster rate compared to the previous month (up KRW1.9 trillion), led by group lending for new apartment subscription. - (Other Types of Loans) Other types of loans fell at a slower rate (down KRW2.2 trillion) compared to a month ago (down KRW3.1 trillion), led by a drop in credit loans. (By Sector) Overall household loans edged down as nonbanks saw a growth and banks maintained a declining trend. - (Banking Sector) Banks saw a drop of KRW0.6 trillion in household loans. Mortgage loans from banks grew KRW1.3 trillion,rising at a faster rate than the previous month (up KRW0.9 trillion), as government-sponsored mortgage lending and group lending for new apartment subscription went up KRW1.0 trillion and KRW0.7 trillion, respectively. Other types of loans from banks fell KRW1.9 trillion, declining at a slower rate than the previous month (down KRW2.1 trillion), led by a drop in credit loans (down KRW1.6 trillion). (Nonbanking Sector) In October, nonbanks saw an increase of KRW0.4 trillion inhousehold loans with declines in mutual finance (down KRW0.4 trillion) and specialized cre
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Oct 13, 2022

Household Loans, September 2022

In September 2022, the outstanding balance of household loansacross all financial sectors fell KRW1.3 trillion (m-o-m). It edged back lower again from the increased one of last month and sustains a stable level overall.Financial authorities will manage to keep the growth rate of household debt stable while making continuous efforts to alleviate financial burdens of low income households and non-speculative homebuyers. (Overall) Household loans across all financial sectors declined KRW1.3 trillion last month. The growth (y-o-y) was 0.6 percent which continued to slow since the second half of 2021. (By Type) Mortgage loans increased at a slower rate than the previous month and other types of loans fell at a faster rate, leading to an overall drop in household loans. - (Mortgage Loans) Mortgage loans rose KRW2.0 trillion in September, growing at a slower rate compared to the previous month (up KRW2.7 trillion), as group lending for new apartment subscription fell from KRW1.2 trillion to KRW0.5 trillion. - (Other Types of Loans) Other types of loans fell KRW3.3 trillion, declining significantly from the previous month (down KRW1.8 trillion), due to a drop in credit loans. (By Sector) Household loans edged back down in both the banking and nonbanking sectors. - (Banking Sector) Banks saw a drop of KRW1.2 trillion in household loans. Mortgage loans from banks grew KRW0.9 trillion,rising at a slower rate than the previous month (up KRW1.6 trillion), as jeonse loans and group lending for new apartment subscription went up KRW0.6 trillion and KRW0.5 trillion, respectively. Other types of loans from banks fell KRW2.1 trillion, declining at a faster rate than the previous month (down KRW1.3 trillion), as credit loans dropped KRW1.8 trillion. - (Nonbanking Sector) In September, nonbanks saw a drop of KRW0.1 trillion in household loans with increases in insurance companies (up KRW0.6 trillion) and savings banks (up KRW0.2 trillion) and declines in mutual finance (down KRW0.5 tri
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Oct 07, 2022

FSC to Overhaul Accounting Regs to Ease Burden on SMEs while Ensuring Accounting Transparency

The FSC prepared measures to overhaul the accounting regulations to make them more SME-friendly and to support SMEs better comply with the accounting and external audit regulations. The key measures include (a) exempting small-sized listed firms (less than KRW100 billion in asset) from external audit requirement for their internal accounting control systems, (b) launching and operating an accounting support center for SMEs at the Korea Exchange (KRX), (c) reducing the scope of large unlisted firms that are subject to the same accounting regulations in place for listed firms and (d) applying a simplified auditing standard for non-listed small firms. In line with the regulatory improvements, the FSC will also strengthen the responsibility of executive officers over internal control of accounting practices and raise incentives for whistleblowing on accounting frauds within a company. For this, disclosure on the internal accounting control system will be improved substantially and the reward amount for whistleblowers will be increased significantly (by three times). Background The accounting and external auditing regulations in Korea have been designed and developed with the focus on large listed companieswhere the need for investor protection is high. SMEs have been subject to similar accounting and external auditing regulations with the large companies despite their smaller scale in terms of the size of interested parties like investors. This has resulted in relatively higher compliance burden on SMEs. As such, it has been pointed out that there is more cost than benefit in applying the same accounting regulations to SMEs. Moreover, it should be taken into account that the accounting reform of 2018 imposes financial burdens more on SMEs which usually have relatively lower profitability. The government has listened to headaches of SMEs, discussed with experts and interested parties and reached the following proposals. An in-depth discussion followed at the 3rd financia
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