Banks Face Surge in Complaints Over Consecutive 'Fund Accidents'... 20.6% Increase Compared to Previous Year

Financial Investment Industry Sees 74.5% Increase Year-on-Year... Securities Firms Account for 76.4% of Complaints

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] Due to the incomplete sales of Derivative Linked Funds (DLF) and the suspension of Lime Fund redemptions, financial complaints in the banking and financial investment sectors increased significantly last year.

According to the "2020 Financial Complaints and Financial Counseling Trends" announced by the Financial Supervisory Service on the 7th, financial complaints last year totaled 90,334 cases, an increase of 9.9% (8,125 cases) compared to the previous year.

Among these, complaints in the banking sector amounted to 12,237 cases, a 20.6% (2,089 cases) increase from the previous year. By complaint type, loans (37.7%) and deposits/savings (11.7%) accounted for a high proportion of 49.4%. This was followed by bancassurance/funds (7.8%) and internet/phone banking (6.9%).

Complaints in the financial investment sector reached 7,690 cases, a sharp increase of 74.5% (3,282 cases) compared to the previous year. Complaints against securities companies were 4,849 cases, up 76.4% (2,100 cases) from the previous year.

The main cause was the increase in complaints related to private equity funds, leveraged West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures, and other derivative products.

By complaint type, internal control/system failures (22.7%), beneficiary certificates (25.1%), stock trading (15.6%), and derivative product trading (4.4%) were in order.

Complaints in the non-bank sector totaled 17,113 cases, an increase of 3.9% (664 cases) from the previous year, with credit card companies accounting for the highest proportion at 35.7% (6,103 cases).

Meanwhile, complaints including heir inquiries totaled 688,855 cases, a decrease of 5.6% (40,939 cases) compared to the previous year.

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