[2023 National Audit] Former Financial Services Commission and Financial Supervisory Service Officials, "Strong Even After Retirement," Move in Large Numbers to Major Law Firms

by Yoo Jaehoon

Published 17 Oct.2023 10:10(KST)

It has been revealed that retirees from financial authorities such as the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service have been moving in large numbers to major law firms over the past three years.

According to the "Employment Review Status by the Public Officials Ethics Committee for Financial Supervisory Service Retirees" data submitted in advance to the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee by the Financial Supervisory Service on the 17th ahead of the national audit, 106 people were approved or confirmed excluding restrictions, holds, and disapprovals from 2021 to August 2023, the past three years.

The most common destination for Financial Supervisory Service retirees was major law firms such as Kim & Chang, Bae, Kim & Lee LLC (Gwangjang), and Yulchon, with 31 people reemployed. In particular, during this period, 10 people reemployed at Kim & Chang, making it the single company where Financial Supervisory Service employees moved the most. Next was Bae, Kim & Lee LLC (8 people), followed by Yulchon (5 people), Sejong (4 people), HwaWoo (2 people), Taepyungyang (1 person), and Minju (1 person).

Notably, the movement of Financial Supervisory Service employees to law firms, which was rare before 2020, has increased significantly since 2020. As financial regulatory fields became one of the revenue sources for law firms, including large-scale redemption suspensions of private equity funds such as Lime and Optimus, the demand for Financial Supervisory Service employees seems to have increased.

In the case of the Financial Services Commission, a total of 15 people were approved during the same period, of which about 13%, or 2 people, were reemployed at major law firms such as Taepyungyang and HwaWoo.

Financial Services Commission retirees most frequently moved to associations and research institutions such as the General Insurance Association and the Korea Institute of Finance, with 5 people. Next were the insurance industry, including Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance and Samsung Life Insurance, with 4 people, and 1 person was reemployed at IBK Investment & Securities. Three people moved to other companies.

For the Financial Supervisory Service, 13 cases involved moving to associations, research institutions, or training centers such as the Korea Financial Investment Association, Korea Institute of Finance, Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, and Insurance Research Institute, second only to law firms. Ten people moved to banks and bank-related associations such as Savings Banks and Gyeongnam Bank. There were also 3 cases of reemployment at financial holding companies such as Hana Financial Group, Meritz Financial Group, and JB Financial Group.

Six Financial Supervisory Service retirees moved to insurance companies and insurance-related firms, while others moved to the securities industry (6 people), asset management companies (5 people), and lending and capital companies (4 people). Three people were reemployed at accounting firms such as Samil.

Recently, reemployment in fintech and virtual asset-related industries has also been notable. Three people were reemployed in virtual asset-related industries such as Dunamu and Bithumb Korea. One person moved to Kakao Pay.