FSS Chief: "It’s Not My Place to Talk About Governance... Cheong Wa Dae Will Make the Final Call"

[Financial News] Lee Chan-jin, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), said on the 23rd that the Plan for Advancing Corporate Governance of Financial Companies, which is now in its final stage of coordination at Cheong Wa Dae, the Blue House, will be announced by next month at the latest.
Speaking to reporters after a "Meeting with the FSS Governor" and the 45th plenary session of the Financial Industry Committee of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, hosted by KCCI at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hall in Jung District, Seoul, that morning, Lee was asked if he had any message for the financial sector regarding corporate governance reforms as shareholder meetings of financial companies get underway. He replied, "It’s not my place to comment on that," but added, "I think it will be announced sometime next month. It won’t take long, but it is physically impossible to do it this month."
Lee explained that "Cheong Wa Dae will make the final decision on the legislative tasks and other items organized by the Task Force for Advancing Corporate Governance," and that "the Financial Services Commission (FSC) will announce them."
Earlier, on the 11th, the FSC announced that it would "enhance fairness and transparency in financial company governance" and that it would hold a meeting between the Chairperson of the Financial Services Commission and the heads of the eight major financial holding companies, along with a briefing on the results of the corporate governance task force, on the 12th. About four hours later, however, the event was abruptly canceled. This led to speculation in the financial sector that there were differences of opinion between the FSC and Cheong Wa Dae over the Plan for Advancing Corporate Governance of Financial Companies.
A financial industry official commented, "The FSC announced a schedule that would bring together the Chairperson of the Financial Services Commission and the chairmen of the financial holding companies, then canceled it just a few hours later," adding, "The only entity that can call off the schedule of a minister-level official is Cheong Wa Dae, which outranks them, don’t you think?"
Jin Ok-dong, chairman of Shinhan Financial Group, who presided over the meeting in his capacity as head of the Financial Industry Committee of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was asked about corporate governance and answered, "I will be able to state a concrete position after reviewing the details."
In his opening remarks at the meeting, Jin stressed the importance of trust. "As the Korean capital market heats up, the most important factor is the ethics of market participants, and at the core of that lies trust," he said. He went on, "I believe we must fully embrace consumer protection, which is Governor Lee Chan-jin’s top priority, and the need to root out unfair trading by market participants."
Jin added, "At the heart of a free-market economy are ethics and empathy," and diagnosed that "the many problems we see in a free-market economy have arisen because the empathy and ethics of market participants have collapsed, leading to imbalances."
Lee also stated that the FSC’s decision on imposing fines related to the mis-selling of Hong Kong equity-linked securities (ELS) will be finalized soon. "The ELS case is being discussed at the regular meeting of the Financial Services Commission," he said, adding, "It should be wrapped up in the near future."
Meanwhile, during the meeting Lee delivered a lecture on "Recent Changes in the Financial Environment and the Future Direction of Financial Supervision." He explained, "We will establish market discipline without discouraging corporate activity, while achieving substantive protection for financial consumers." He further noted, "The financial market is undergoing complex structural changes, including heightened volatility and the spread of digital finance," and said, "The financial supervisory policy for 2026 will support economic growth through innovation such as artificial intelligence (AI), while ultimately protecting financial consumers by ensuring financial market stability."
He particularly emphasized supporting economic growth through productive finance, which is a key government policy goal, and ensuring financial market stability by managing structural risks such as household and corporate debt. He cited eradicating unfair trading and advancing corporate governance, overhauling the supervisory framework for IT security and virtual assets, and shifting the paradigm toward preventive consumer protection as major tasks, and reaffirmed his commitment to implementing them without delay.
The meeting was attended by Pyeon Jeong-beom, special management advisor at Kyobo Life Insurance; Lee Seok-hyun, president and CEO of Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance; Jeung Shindong, head of the Management Research Institute at KB Financial Group; Song Yong-hoon, vice president at KB Kookmin Bank; Jung Heesoo, head of the Financial Research Institute at Hana Financial Group; Kim Shin, vice chairman of SKS Private Equity; Kim Dong-wook, vice president at Hyundai Motor Company; and Yeo Myung-hee, vice president at LG Uplus, among others.
mj@fnnews.com Park Moon-soo Reporter