Financial Supervisory Service Chief: "Additional Suspicious Transactions Found at Other Banks... Illegality Confirmed"

Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Bok-hyun is attending the full meeting of the Political Affairs Committee held at the National Assembly on the 28th and delivering a greeting. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] Lee Bokhyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, stated that additional suspicious transactions have been discovered in banks other than Woori and Shinhan Banks, which are currently under investigation, and that the inspection will be broadly expanded due to clear illegality.

On the 28th, Governor Lee appeared at the full meeting of the Political Affairs Committee and responded to the question from Kang Minguk, a member of the People Power Party, asking, "Do you agree that there are illegal factors in the suspicious overseas remittance case?" by saying, "There are strong presumptions of various illegal factors."

Governor Lee explained, "In normal foreign exchange transactions, if there is an inflow, there is an outflow, and there is give and take," adding, "(However, this suspicious foreign exchange transaction) involves converting through a virtual exchange to Korean won assets, then converting these into foreign currency and unilaterally outflowing, which directly damages investors' profits and has a market-disturbing nature, so it is different."

He said, "The illegality appears clear, and a large outflow of foreign exchange liquidity overseas has been confirmed in the process," adding, "Inspections are ongoing for Woori and Shinhan Banks, and all banks have been requested to conduct (self) investigations. Since recent issues have been identified, we plan to broadly expand the inspections."

He continued, "We will verify the facts, hold financial institutions accountable for responsibility, prepare improvement plans for the supervisory system, and report on them."

In response to a question from Yoo Eui-dong of the People Power Party asking, "Are there banks other than Woori and Shinhan Banks that have reported additional suspicious overseas remittance cases?" Governor Lee replied, "Similar types of transactions have occurred frequently in several commercial banks."

Governor Lee said, "The banks' self-inspection reports are due by the end of this week, and even before the final report, if problems are found, we intend to take prompt measures such as inspections."

Regarding whether cooperation with the National Intelligence Service is underway concerning the suspicious overseas remittance case, Governor Lee avoided a clear answer and only said, "We are cooperating with related agencies."

In response to a question from Yoon Han-hong of the People Power Party about whether the National Intelligence Service is investigating suspicions that overseas remittance amounts may have gone to North Korea, he said, "We do not have inspection or investigation authority over the stages after overseas outflow, so we are not directly monitoring that part."

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