Lee Bok-hyun "Finance Should Also Play a Social Role... The FSC Is Like a Submerged Duck"

Lee Bok-hyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-seop] "For example, controversies such as banks' interest profit-making have received various criticisms. However, the underlying spirit was the hope that finance would play a certain social role for vulnerable groups and people in difficulty."

Lee Bok-hyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), made this remark on the 6th during a meeting with the press after conducting an on-site meeting with self-employed business owners at a handmade sandwich specialty store in Sadang-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul. He was responding to a question about whether there were any policies he felt regretful about since taking office. This revealed his reflections on various policies pursued since his appointment as FSS Governor.

The event took place on the first day of expanding the support target for the 'Self-Employment Consulting Program.' Governor Lee Bok-hyun personally met with Lee Jae-yeon, President of the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency, and Oh Hwa-kyung, Chairman of the Korea Federation of Savings Banks, to listen to the difficulties and on-site opinions of self-employed business owners.

Governor Lee said, "I am cautious about answering, but we did not intend to interfere with banks' business decisions," adding, "Since I was new, that was the case... If we had been in frequent communication, misunderstandings or criticisms would have been relatively less." He also said, "As time passes, it seems that mutual understanding of the intentions behind the FSS policies is increasing."

On June 20, Governor Lee pointed out at his first meeting with heads of commercial banks that "there is a tendency for the interest rate spread between loans and deposits to widen during periods of rising interest rates, leading to increased criticism of excessive profit-seeking." This sparked controversy in the financial sector, with some interpreting his remarks as a public criticism of banks' interest profit-making.

He also shared his thoughts on the role and necessity of the FSS in the financial sector. Explaining measures to address foreign currency liquidity issues and the prolonged strength of the dollar, he said, "If something happens, it happens, but if it doesn't, concerns often go unnoticed," adding, "I think the FSS's role is to quietly stir the waters behind the scenes as if nothing happened."

He continued, "We do not currently see foreign currency liquidity as a problem for our financial institutions at this stage. However, not long ago, we could not easily predict additional interest rate hikes," and explained, "From the perspective of needing to prepare for various scenarios, we continue to establish liquidity contingency plans, and by sharing comprehensive information with the financial sector, understanding and empathy about the situation have indeed increased."

Regarding non-financial support policies, he said, "Every time, the discussion focuses only on interest rates or product limits," and added, "If possible, I hope that from the perspective of financial institutions, there will also be appropriate evaluations of business viability for individual business owners without collateral."

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