Rep. Lee Hyung-seok: "Financial Authorities Should Supervise Saemaeul Geumgo Credit Business"

Representative Proposal of Partial Amendments to the Saemaeul Geumgo Act and the Credit Union Act

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Rep. Lee Hyung-seok (Democratic Party of Korea·Gwangju Buk-gu Eul) announced on the 14th that he has taken the lead in proposing partial amendments to the 'Saemaeul Geumgo Act' and the 'Credit Cooperative Act.'

The amendments include provisions allowing financial authorities to directly supervise the credit business sector of Saemaeul Geumgo, such as deposits and loans.

Saemaeul Geumgo is a mutual financial institution that conducts credit businesses including deposits, loans, and remittance services, as well as mutual aid and welfare projects for its members, and is managed and supervised by the Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

Last year, Saemaeul Geumgo's assets exceeded 200 trillion won, which is a scale comparable to the total assets of Nonghyup and Suhyup under the supervision of the Financial Services Commission, which were 342 trillion and 45 trillion won respectively in 2019.

Nevertheless, the current law only stipulates consultation between the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Financial Services Commission without direct supervision regulations by financial authorities over Saemaeul Geumgo, leading to ongoing calls for management soundness and supervision commensurate with its asset size.

Moreover, while similar institutions such as Nonghyup, Suhyup, and Shinhyup are directly managed and supervised by the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service for their credit business sectors, concerns have been raised that supervision over Saemaeul Geumgo is relatively lax.

Rep. Lee Hyung-seok stated, “Despite Saemaeul Geumgo operating financial assets worth 200 trillion won, it remains outside the scope of direct management and supervision by financial authorities. We must apply financial authorities’ supervisory standards to strengthen management soundness and ensure that the valuable assets of ordinary citizens are managed stably.”

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