November 27, 2024

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Lee Bok-hyun (center), governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, speaks during a meeting with the CEOs of 11 foreign financial companies at a hotel in Seoul on Wednesday. (FSS)

Lee Bok-hyun, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, urged foreign financial firms Wednesday to prioritize effective risk management in a roundtable meeting with their CEOs in Seoul on Wednesday.

"In light of recent domestic and international uncertainties, I urge foreign financial firms to proactively prioritize the firms' soundness and effective risk management," Lee said during the meeting.

Lee, who has been prioritizing the improvement of internal controls for Korean financial firms, also called for foreign financial companies to do the same.

"It is crucial for firms’ management to consistently strengthen internal controls," he added.

A total of 11 CEOs attended the meeting, including JP Morgan Korea CEO Howard Kim, HSBC Seoul CEO Jung Eun-young, ICBC Seoul CEO He Xiao Jian, MUFG Bank Seoul CEO Nakamura Shinkichi, MetLife Insurance Korea CEO Song Young-rok, AIA Korea CEO Nathan Michael Chuang, ACE American Fire and Marine Insurance Company Korea CEO Edward Kopp, Yuanta Securities Korea CEO Kuo Ming-Cheng, Goldman Sachs Asia CEO Chung Hyung-jin, Baring Asset Management Korea CEO Park Chong-hak and Eastspring Asset Management Korea CEO Park Cheon-woong.

It was the second time for Lee to hold a meeting with heads of foreign financial companies doing business in Korea since he took office to lead the nation’s top financial regulator in 2022. The last meeting was held in July of that year.

At the beginning of the meeting, Lee provided an update on the actions taken to address the issue of registration delays for foreign funds that were discussed in the previous meeting.

“We have formed a specialized team solely responsible for the screening process. Moreover, we have appointed four additional personnel who exclusively focus on screening foreign funds,” he said.

Furthermore, Lee discussed the financial authority's efforts in relaxing the regulation on the Korean won's lending-to-deposit ratio.

Previously, banks with loans exceeding 2 trillion won ($1.6 trillion) were required to lower their Korean won lending-to-deposit ratio to below 100 percent. However, this regulation is now only being applied to foreign banks with loans exceeding 4 trillion won.

Lee also stressed that the FSS will continue to pursue previously announced initiatives, such as repealing the registration requirement for foreign investors, expanding the English disclosure of listed companies, and improving dividend procedures to attract more foreign investments in Korea.

Also, to improve the digital financial infrastructure in Korea, Lee said efforts will be made to advance the related security regulations. This includes easing regulations on cloud computing and network separation in financial sectors, he said.

“We will also allow qualified foreign financial firms to directly participate in the foreign exchange market and extend the trading hours of the foreign exchange market,” he added.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)