Financial Supervisory Service, 97 Unqualified Similar Investment Advisory Firms Deregistered Ex Officio

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[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jihwan] The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced on the 21st that it conducted inspections on quasi-investment advisory firms, checking for business closures and violations of financial-related laws, and identified 97 unqualified firms which were then subject to ex officio cancellation.

Quasi-investment advisory businesses provide investment advice for a fee to unspecified large numbers of people through social network services (SNS), internet broadcasts, text messages, blogs, and other channels.

As of the end of November last year, the FSS conducted fact-finding inquiries with the National Tax Service, Prosecutor's Office, and Police Agency regarding business closures and violations of financial-related laws for 1,802 quasi-investment advisory firms. Firms confirmed to be closed were given an opportunity to submit their opinions, and after reviewing these, 97 quasi-investment advisory firms were subject to ex officio cancellation.

An FSS official stated, "Through this ex officio cancellation, we have eliminated ghost firms that could mislead consumers into thinking they are operating normally despite having filed for closure," adding, "Firms subject to ex officio cancellation are prohibited from engaging in quasi-investment advisory business for the next five years in accordance with the law."

Previously, in July last year, an amendment to the Capital Markets Act strengthening supervision of quasi-investment advisory businesses was enacted, enabling financial authorities to ex officio cancel unqualified firms.

The FSS plans to regularly inspect business closures and criminal records related to violations of financial laws to continuously remove unqualified firms. It also intends to strictly review registration requirements to block the entry of unqualified entities.

An FSS official advised, "Consumers should verify whether the target firm is registered on the Financial Consumer Information Portal Fine before entering into a quasi-investment advisory contract," and added, "Unregistered firms are subject to criminal penalties, and consumers can report them to the FSS Illegal Financial Report Center."

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