FSS chief pledges to back foreign firms

Financial Supervisory Service Governor Choi Soo-hyun, right, speaks at a meeting with CEOs of foreign financial firms at the Conrad Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul, Thursday. / Yonhap

By Chung Ah-young

Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Choi Soo-hyun said Thursday that he will support foreign financial firms operating in Korea to becoming regional headquarters.

He said he will consider introducing guidelines for Korean branches of the foreign entities to serve as regional headquarters at a meeting with foreign financial firms' CEOs at the Conrad Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul.

"We will actively consider setting up guidelines to help more foreign financial firms become ‘regional hubs' here," he said.

Twenty CEOs from foreign financial firms such as BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs, requested guidelines about the role of "regional hubs" at the meeting.

Recently, Standard Chartered Bank Korea was designated as the Northeast Asia headquarters overseeing regional markets, including Japan and Mongolia, to bolster business in Korea. It is the first regional headquarters based in Korea in the financial sector.

Choi shared views on the importance of regional headquarters in Korea to uplift the nation's global image and financial competitiveness.

He said that he will improve the entrustment process for the effected operations to help them play a leading role in the region.

Also, the governor said that the watchdog will improve old supervisory practices which can be seen as the "hidden regulations."

He emphasized that the FSS has focused on setting up financial rules through fair law enforcement and preventive supervision.

"As we announced the plan to streamline the licensing process of the financial firms in May, we have put more emphasis on the effectiveness and results rather than the old practices. We will make more efforts to conduct predictable and consistent supervision," he said.

The governor pointed out that the regulator discovered a lack of protection of customers' rights in the information and technology system during the investigation of 3,050 financial firms.

"We hope the CEOs here will be keener in protecting personal information to prevent financial accidents through strengthening their internal controls and improving their IT security systems," he said.

Concerning the poor customer service of foreign firms, Choi urged them to improve the rights of their financial consumers.

He also asked the CEOs to join the government's efforts to create more quality jobs.
After the meeting, he expressed a firm stance against the planned sanctions on some 200 officials, including KB Financial Group Chairman Lim Young-rok and Kookmin Bank CEO Lee Kun-ho.

"I think the disciplinary review committee members have expertise in the legal aspects. The thing is that the sanctions should follow the law and rules and principles," he said. "We should follow the rules but we will give them enough opportunities to defend themselves."

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