Financial Services Commission "Establishing a Permanent Reporting System for COVID-19 Prevention Between Financial Authorities and the Financial Sector"

"The Next Week Is the Biggest COVID-19 Challenge"
"Reviewing Supplementary Financial Support Programs for Small Business Owners"

Son Byung-du, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyo-jin] Sohn Byung-doo, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, urged the financial authorities and the financial sector to establish a continuous reporting system on June 1 to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

At the Financial Risk Response Team meeting held via video conference that morning, Vice Chairman Sohn said, "The coming week will be the most critical period for COVID-19 prevention."

He also requested, "Please strengthen the management system according to quarantine guidelines for call centers and door-to-door sales businesses where group infections may occur."

On May 28, the Financial Services Commission held a video conference with representatives from financial associations to review the status of COVID-19 prevention measures by sector and decided to further strengthen monitoring going forward.

Operating hours for bank branches in the Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon metropolitan areas will be reduced by one hour, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., starting from that day until June 6.

The insurance industry also recommended that insurance planners refrain from face-to-face sales as much as possible this week.

"Monitoring the implementation status of additional loan maturity extensions"

Vice Chairman Sohn also mentioned recent COVID-19 related financial support measures such as additional extensions of loan maturities for small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners, and additional deferrals of interest payments, stating, "We will monitor the implementation status of these extension measures and manage them with a long-term perspective."

He added, "Regarding the Livelihood Finance Stability Package program, there is sufficient support capacity with 10 trillion won for small business support programs and 8 trillion won for small and medium-sized enterprise support programs," and expressed the position that "consideration will be given to supplementing the programs through consultations with related ministries, taking into account the trend of COVID-19 spread and the pace of policy fund depletion."

Meanwhile, the Financial Services Commission reported that from February to August 28 this year, a total of 1,944,000 cases and 187.3 trillion won in loans and guarantees were provided through policy financial institutions and commercial banks.

Among commercial banks, loan maturities for 191,000 cases amounting to 54.7 trillion won were extended.

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