[1mm Finance Talk] FSS to Hold 'National Consumer Protection Report' in September... Lee Chanjin's First Initiative

Nearly One Year Since the Announcement of a National Report Event Last Year
Presenting Achievements Such as Advancements in Product Management Systems

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) is currently coordinating its internal schedule to hold the "National Report on Financial Consumer Protection Innovation," an event aimed at directly explaining to the public the outcomes achieved so far in establishing a robust system for financial consumer protection within the financial sector. This comes roughly one year after Lee Chanjin, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, announced his intention to instill a "consumer protection DNA" throughout the entire financial sector by holding such a national report event.

According to financial supervisory authorities on August 17, the FSS is fine-tuning its internal schedule to hold the "National Report on Financial Consumer Protection Innovation" chaired by Governor Lee next month. The specific date will be set after considering Governor Lee's planned press conference—which is expected to take place in mid-September at the earliest—and related National Assembly audit schedules.

An FSS official stated, "The framework of the event has been decided, but the schedule is our main concern and is still under internal discussion," adding, "If we set the event date for mid-next month, the preparation time may be somewhat tight. However, considering the press conference and the National Assembly audit schedules, there is an opinion that it would be better to hold it sooner." Another FSS official added, "The press conference, which was initially planned before the first anniversary of Governor Lee's inauguration (August 14), is likely to be postponed to next month. The working-level departments are striving to hold the report event for citizens before the press conference."

This "National Report" was conceived by Governor Lee after he announced a major organizational overhaul immediately following the exclusion of plans to establish a new Financial Consumer Protection Agency (by separating the FSS Financial Consumer Protection Bureau) from the revision of the Government Organization Act during discussions to reform the financial supervisory system in September of last year. On September 29 last year, Governor Lee held the "Pledge Rally for Strengthened Financial Consumer Protection for All Employees" and announced plans to hold the "National Report on Financial Consumer Protection Innovation" in 2026.

The main agenda items are expected to focus on the progress of the "Roadmap for Improving Financial Consumer Protection," which was announced on December 22 of last year. The core is to strengthen the responsibility of financial product manufacturers and distributors throughout the entire product lifecycle—from design and production to review, sales, and post-management—and to establish a preemptive consumer protection system. The essence of the plan is to reinforce consumer protection in high-risk financial products such as equity-linked securities (ELS) referencing the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI), and to establish systems that clearly define responsibility when issues arise during the design and sales process of such products.

By sector, key tasks include: strengthening internal controls in the banking sector to prevent mis-selling of exchange-traded funds (ETF) through trusts; advancing third-party risk management for corporate insurance agencies (GA) in the insurance sector; and enhancing monitoring systems to crack down on illegal financial activities such as "finfluencer" impersonation in the financial investment sector. The event will also report on efforts made over the past year, such as revising the Police Officer’s Duties Act to introduce special judicial police for civil affairs, and strengthening IT internal controls across all financial sectors as part of the FSS’s consumer protection policies.

Governor Lee stated, "It is a clear fact that in the course of the FSS’s work, regulatory actions have tended to focus on the soundness of financial institutions while financial consumers are only engaged when accidents occur, creating an imbalance. The entire financial sector must internalize a 'consumer protection DNA.'"

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.