Regulatory Arrows Targeting Big Tech, Fair Trade Commission Joins Financial Services Commission

Joesonguk Fair Trade Commission Chairman Focuses on Solving 'Platform Side Effects' in Second Half Policy Direction
Financial Authorities Also Announce Regulatory Strengthening... Will the Amendment to the Electronic Financial Transactions Act Be Reconsidered?

[Asia Economy Reporters Jin-ho Kim and Hae-young Kwon] Government regulatory pressure targeting big tech companies such as Kakao and Naver is spreading across all fronts. Following the financial authorities yesterday, the Fair Trade Commission has also joined in, cornering these companies with few escape routes. Industry insiders expect that, given the regulators' strong will to normalize the 'tilted playing field,' additional concrete regulatory measures will be announced soon.

On the 10th, Cho Sung-wook, Chairman of the Fair Trade Commission, stated at a breakfast meeting of the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea (ECCK) held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul that the focus of the Fair Trade policy direction for the second half of the year will be on resolving the 'side effects of platforms.'

Chairman Cho expressed concerns, saying, "While platforms provide new market access opportunities to tenant businesses, concerns about unfair practices persist, and although they offer consumers more choices, cases of consumer harm are also increasing." Accordingly, he announced the establishment of a related division within the ICT task force of the Fair Trade Commission and the expansion of investigative personnel to intensively monitor anti-competitive behaviors by platforms. This represents a significant expansion of the Fair Trade Commission's regulatory authority over the explosively growing platform industry.

Earlier, the financial authorities, which emphasized the principle of 'same function, same regulation' for big tech, also announced plans to significantly strengthen regulations. In the financial sector, the decision on the 7th to classify big tech's tailored financial product recommendations as a 'violation of the Financial Consumer Protection Act' is seen as just the beginning. The decision to comprehensively review refinancing loan platforms is interpreted in a similar context.

The amendment to the Electronic Financial Transactions Act (EFTA) is a representative example of expected additional regulations. If the EFTA passes, big tech companies will effectively engage in deposit and loan businesses, from account issuance to card payment, but will not be subject to the same regulations as financial institutions. This is also expected to be reconsidered from scratch.

A financial sector official predicted, "Since strict principles will be applied, additional regulations on various issues that have caused controversy due to excessive privileges are inevitable."

In this regard, a financial authority official stated, "Services currently operating under laws other than the Financial Consumer Protection Act, such as innovative financial services, have no issues."

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