Financial Supervisory Service Chief: Establishing a Financial Hub Needed for Global Financial Firms to Enter Korean Market

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] "To encourage more global players to participate in the Korean market in the future, it is above all important to establish a financial hub comparable to global financial cities."

On the 15th, Lee Bokhyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), held a meeting with CEOs of 12 foreign financial companies operating in Korea and made this statement.

Governor Lee explained, "Due to declining profitability in the financial sector and digitalization, global financial companies are consolidating their overseas operations and relocating to key regions. Since the enactment of the Financial Hub Act in 2008, Korea has promoted policies to strengthen the international competitiveness of the financial industry through the establishment of financial hubs, resulting in a continuous rise in the global financial center index rankings and an enhanced external status." The ranking of Korean financial hubs (GFCI) saw Seoul rise from 36th place in 2019 to 12th place this year, while Busan moved up from 46th to 30th place.

Governor Lee emphasized, "With the digital transformation of the financial industry weakening the importance of geographic financial hubs, changes are also occurring in the landscape of global financial centers. Korea, based on its excellent digital infrastructure, can seize the opportunity of this paradigm shift and, by improving unreasonable financial regulations, will be able to emerge as a global financial hub."

Additionally, Governor Lee pledged to support regulatory innovation by the government for the innovative growth of the financial industry. He stated, "We will work with the Financial Services Commission to rationally improve regulations that hinder digital transformation or have lost their regulatory effectiveness due to changes in the financial environment, such as network separation, cloud regulations, and outsourcing regulations. We also plan to boldly improve unnecessary 'red tape'?bureaucratic formalism or paperwork?in supervision, inspection, and sanction administration."

Governor Lee urged foreign financial companies to align with Korea’s supervisory policy direction as part of the Korean financial industry. He requested, "Currently, the Financial Supervisory Service is proactively strengthening crisis response capabilities amid worsening domestic and external conditions. Foreign financial companies should also make every effort to maintain soundness, conduct preemptive risk management, and focus on consumer protection in preparation for domestic and external shocks such as interest rate hikes and asset price adjustments."

Finally, Governor Lee expressed hope that foreign financial companies will continue to grow alongside the Korean economy, emphasizing, "We will strive to create fair and transparent business conditions and ease regulations so that the autonomy and creativity of foreign financial companies can be fully realized."

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