Chairman Kim Byunghwan: "Concerns Over Side Effects of Commercial Act Amendment... Capital Market Act Amendment Needed First"

Financial Services Commission Chairman's March Press Briefing
"Veto Power to Be Ultimately Decided by Acting President"
"Homeplus Incident... Strict Investigation to Be Conducted"
"Commissioned Korea Institute of Finance for Private Equity Fund System Improvement"

"There are some concerns about the side effects of the amendment to the Commercial Act, but I hope the amendment to the Capital Markets Act will be prioritized as an alternative."

Kim Byung-hwan, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, is attending the regular press briefing held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno, Seoul on the 26th, answering questions from the press. 2025.3.26 Photo by Jo Yong-jun

On the 26th, at the monthly press briefing held at the Gwanghwamun Government Seoul Office, Chairman Kim said, "I hope there will be sufficient discussions on various alternatives along with the Capital Markets Act."

Chairman Kim had previously expressed opposition to the amendment to the Commercial Act. His stance remained the same at the briefing that day. He emphasized, "I fundamentally feel a strong will and necessity for the need to protect and prioritize ordinary shareholders in management," adding, "Although the amendment to the Commercial Act is well-intentioned, when considering whether it can be achieved and whether there are side effects, there are some concerns about the side effects."

He also drew a line regarding the exercise of the right to request reconsideration (veto power), stating that it is a matter for the acting president to decide. Earlier that morning, Lee Bok-hyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, appeared on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' and argued that if the government exercises veto power over the amendment to the Commercial Act, it would create a negative perception throughout the capital market.

Chairman Kim said, "The veto power is a matter for the acting president to make the final decision after hearing opinions from various institutions."

Regarding the Homeplus incident, he expressed a stance to conduct a strict investigation. He explained, "Currently, inspections and investigations are underway on Homeplus, MBK, and Shin Young Securities, which sold the promissory notes," adding, "This is an area of great social interest, and many people have suffered damages." He emphasized, "We will conduct a strict and prompt investigation and take appropriate measures for the findings."

Additionally, institutional improvements to address problems with private equity funds (PEFs) will be carried out. The Financial Services Commission commissioned related research to the Korea Institute of Finance the day before. He said, "With MBK as a trigger, issues related to private equity funds have recently been raised," adding, "It has been about 20 years since the private equity fund system was established, so I think it is time to review its pros and cons."

He also showed determination to proceed quickly with improvements to the private equity fund system. He explained, "We plan to examine how regulations related to private equity funds have changed in each country and identify what we lack," adding, "Rather than waiting for the research results, once some necessary information is investigated, we will prepare improvement plans based on that."

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