Korea's financial watchdog said Friday it has issued an institutional caution against KB Kookmin Bank and fined the country's top lender 54.5 million won ($49,086) for breaching regulations on loans and personal data.
An institutional caution, which does not lead to any business disadvantage, is the weakest level of punishment that can be imposed on a financial firm.
"An institutional caution and fine were imposed on the bank, with reprimands made against employees that broke the rules. A caution was also issued to the current and former heads for their responsibility in prompting unfair sales activities," the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said in an e-mailed statement.
According to the FSS, the lender set excessive deposit goals, which forced bank employees to engage in unfair sales activities when extending loans to small and mid-size enterprises.
The bank was also found to have breached real-name financial transaction rules and mistreated the credit information of some customers, it said. (Yonhap)