[Initial Reaction] No Legislative Success for 1 Year... Financial Services Commission's Lament

[Asia Economy Reporter Sim Nayoung] This year, the response materials requested by members of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee from the Financial Services Commission (FSC) during the National Assembly audit were compiled into three books, each about 1,000 pages long. Glancing through the table of contents, one of the most frequently requested materials by both ruling and opposition parties was the 'Status and Key Contents of National Tasks Implementation Since the Current Government's Inauguration.'

Among the national tasks, some items such as the disclosure of banks' loan-deposit interest rate spreads and the easing of real estate loan regulations can be implemented by the FSC creating and enforcing systems without the National Assembly's help. However, there are also tasks that require legal amendments to be executed. This is why it is notable that the FSC placed 'Priority Legislative Bills' right above the 'Status of National Tasks Implementation' in the materials, seemingly to show the National Assembly.

A senior FSC official recently met with us and lamented, "I don't even remember when the bills were last discussed in the National Assembly. The FSC has many related laws, and if the National Assembly doesn't act, our work cannot proceed." Although the Political Affairs Committee held a bill review subcommittee in recent months, it was only for budget and settlement processing purposes.

Searching through the National Assembly's meeting records site, the last time a bill related to the FSC was discussed in the Political Affairs Committee was on November 23 of last year, during a bill review subcommittee meeting that discussed virtual asset transaction legislation. Since last winter, the presidential election season began, leaving the National Assembly empty, and even after the new administration took office, the ruling and opposition parties failed to agree on the National Assembly's leadership structure, delaying the appointment of the FSC chairman by more than a month. This meant that FSC-related bill discussions were not even on the radar of the lawmakers.

The reality is that the FSC is inevitably more sensitive to the National Assembly's bill processing than other ministries. According to the FSC, "In terms of the number of bills, the number of bills handled per person is overwhelmingly higher than other ministries, so FSC officials have to perform 'one hundred tasks with one person.'" Even the Fair Trade Commission has over 600 employees but only 13 related bills. The FSC, operating with about 300 personnel, handles 47 bills. This also means that how and when major bills are discussed and processed in the National Assembly is directly linked to the FSC's performance. The Political Affairs Committee, which suffers from legislative stagnation throughout the year, is also the reason for the FSC's growing impatience.

According to the audit materials, most of the priority legislative bills identified by the FSC focus on venture companies, small and medium-sized listed companies, and investor protection in the stock market. These include amendments to the Capital Markets Act to create a corporate growth collective investment scheme to revitalize venture company investments, the External Audit Act for Stock Companies exempting small and medium-sized listed companies with assets under 100 billion won from mandatory external audits of internal accounting control systems, and amendments to the Capital Markets Act imposing fines for unfair trading such as insider trading or market manipulation in the stock market.

The problem is that even the lawmakers who requested the national task materials during the audit did not mention a single word about the bills during the audit. The issues at last week's FSC audit were the responsibility of Lone Star, internal embezzlement at commercial banks, the ban on short selling, and virtual asset transaction problems. As usual, lawmakers were busy reprimanding the FSC chairman. Of course, these issues attract public attention, but it is hoped that lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties recognize that the FSC's priority legislative bills are also necessary for protecting the public and fostering corporate growth. It is hoped that the National Assembly will properly fulfill its basic role during the regular session in November.

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