FSC seeks to retain finance employees, support industry

Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo / Korea Times file

By Lee Kyung-min

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) is rushing to come up with measures to retain jobs in the sector as the industry increasingly slashes in-person services amid digitization, coupled with the emergence of IT firms expanding into the territory requiring highly trained professionals with smart technology expertise.

The FSC and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups submitted a proposal on ways to create jobs in the financial industry to a presidential committee Friday.

The measure comes amid a steady decline in the number of jobs in the industry. Data from Statistics Korea showed the number of financial employees fell to 778,000 last year, after reaching a peak of 878,000 in 2013. They accounted for 2.9 percent of all jobs in 2020, down from 3.5 percent in that year.

About 13,000 jobs in the banking sector disappeared over the same period, while 8,000 were slashed in the credit card, car-financing and leasing sectors.

By contrast, internet-only banks have created 1,300 jobs since 2016.

Under the measure, the FSC plans to establish a legal framework to help fintechs flourish, a move to be propped up by expanding the scope of th categorization of such firms. This will help more newcomers in the market draw more investment.

Also to be considered are revising related laws to exempt executives and employees when they lose investors' money, setting up a fund to support private firms making investments, and strengthening financial sandboxes, a regulatory measure that allows live, time-bound testing of innovations under the FSC's supervision.

Related rules will be eased to lower the bar for new firms to enter the financial market, a measure to help boost competition and innovation, especially in the banking and insurance industries.

The government will support financial employee training institutions, universities and municipalities to train experts in IT and fintech.

Measures will be outlined to help retirees at financial services firms find new jobs that can utilize their experience and expertise.

Nine venture funds with a combined volume of 1 trillion won ($882 million) will be set up to better support start-up businesses.

The government will set up a Silicon Valley-like financing system by the end of the year, whereby firms can find financing sources with investment plans including equity investment.

An online platform will be built to help small business owners acquire low-cost loans.