Lee Bok-hyun "Confident in K-Finance Leap... Will Improve Global Investment Environment"

Lee Bok-hyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service

Lee Bok-hyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), announced on the 9th that he will strive to improve the investment environment that global investors can feel.

At the opening speech of the Singapore Investment Roadshow (IR) held at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Singapore on the same day, Governor Lee said, "We will continue efforts to enhance the transparency and consistency of regulatory and supervisory administration." Present at the event were CEOs of six financial companies, including Yoon Jong-kyu of KB Financial Group and Ham Young-joo of Hana Financial Group, as well as representatives from Mirae Asset Securities, Korea Investment & Securities, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, and Korean Re. Governor Lee is currently touring three major Southeast Asian countries (Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia) from the 8th to the 12th to support the attraction of overseas investment and expansion of overseas advancement by Korean financial companies.

At the IR, Governor Lee stated, "The reasons why the Korean financial market and financial industry are attractive investment destinations are market stability, soundness, innovation and growth of the financial industry, and the policy efforts of the Korean government and financial authorities."

He explained, "Although the Korean market is not free from domestic and external uncertainties, it maintains solid stability," adding, "The foreign currency liquidity situation of banks is also at a very good level." He further noted, "Concerns about the potential expansion of non-performing loans in real estate project financing (PF) persist, but the FSS is managing the situation to ensure a soft landing by strengthening monitoring and inducing autonomous business normalization by major creditors."

Regarding the innovation and growth of the financial industry, he emphasized, "Since we have global strengths in new technology fields such as ICT, artificial intelligence (AI), and blockchain, there is great potential to emerge as a leader in digital finance."

Governor Lee also expressed the financial authorities' commitment to improving the investment environment. He said, "We plan to abolish the foreign investor registration obligation, mandate English disclosures for listed companies, and expand international standard financial disclosures to reduce information asymmetry," adding, "We will continue to enhance convenience by abolishing the reporting obligation of investment details per investor for foreign integrated accounts and expanding the scope of post-reporting for over-the-counter transactions."

Additionally, Governor Lee mentioned the extension of trading hours for derivatives and the extension of opening hours for the foreign exchange market. He added, "Fundamentally, we plan to continue supervisory efforts to strengthen governance by enhancing the board functions of financial companies."

He emphasized, "Korean cultural contents such as K-pop and K-drama receive broad interest and love from people worldwide, and I am confident that K-Finance will also newly leap forward and raise its status."

Meanwhile, starting with a meeting with the Governor of the Bank of Thailand on the 8th, Governor Lee plans to visit top officials in three Southeast Asian countries, including the Deputy Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore on the 10th and the Chairman of the Indonesia Financial Services Authority on the 12th, to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation.

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