Resolution of the Amendment Bill for the Comprehensive Reform of the 'Financial Sector Immunity System' Including COVID-19 Support

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] The Financial Services Commission announced on the 16th that it has approved an amendment to the "Regulations on Financial Institution Inspections and Sanctions" to exempt financial institutions from sanctions related to COVID-19 support and innovative finance matters.

In particular, through the supplementary provisions (application cases), the Financial Services Commission explicitly stated that "this regulation also applies to acts prior to its enforcement," thereby clearly including various COVID-19 support operations for affected companies announced and implemented before the institutional reform as subjects of exemption.

Reviewing the main contents of the amendment, it stipulates that financial support for disaster-affected companies, secured loans on movable property, investments in innovative companies, and tasks related to the financial regulatory sandbox are subject to exemption.

Additionally, to enhance operational flexibility, the Financial Services Commission may designate additional exemption subjects.

If financial institution employees are uncertain whether a specific financial task qualifies for exemption, they can apply in advance to the Financial Services Commission for a judgment and receive a response.

An exemption presumption system will also be introduced. Accordingly, regarding the previously strictly applied requirement of "no intentional or gross negligence," if there is no private interest and no significant procedural defect, it will be presumed that there is no intentional or gross negligence from the perspective of financial institution employees.

An exemption application system will be introduced, allowing financial institution employees to directly apply for exemption and have the exemption subject and fulfillment of exemption requirements reviewed by the Sanctions Exemption Review Committee, which includes external members.

Furthermore, the Financial Services Commission will establish an "Exemption Review Committee" to deliberate on the overall system, including additional designation of exemption subjects and judgments on exemption applicability, while the Financial Supervisory Service will establish a "Sanctions Exemption Review Committee" to conduct exemption reviews on individual sanction cases. Both committees will include external experts as appointed members.

The Financial Services Commission explained, "According to this amendment, tasks defined as exemption subjects such as support for COVID-19 affected companies are institutionally guaranteed exemption under supervisory regulations."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.