Eun Sung-soo: "Significant Strengthening of Financial Security... Establishing a Fair Competition Foundation for Big Tech"

Eun Sung-soo, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyo-jin] Eun Sung-soo, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, announced on the 7th his plan to "significantly strengthen financial security and establish a higher level of user protection system." He also stated that preparations will be made to establish a foundation for fair competition in anticipation of big tech (large information technology companies) entering the financial sector.

In his keynote speech at the 'Information Protection Day (July 8) Commemorative Seminar for CEOs of Financial Companies' hosted by the Financial Security Institute at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the same day, Chairman Eun stated, "(Digital financial innovation) continuously presents us with new challenges in terms of financial security and information protection."

Chairman Eun mentioned issues such as ▲ the possibility of fraudulent payment incidents due to illegal acquisition of personal information ▲ 'third-party risk,' where finance is affected by risks from non-financial sectors ▲ and the expansion of the scope of cyberattacks due to the spread of cloud and Internet of Things (IoT) usage.

He said, "If the public's assets and personal information are not safely protected, digital financial innovation is nothing more than a house of cards," adding, "We will promote sustainable digital financial innovation based on a solid foundation of financial security and information protection."

The financial authorities plan to announce a 'Comprehensive Digital Finance Innovation Plan' within this month and push for amendments to the Electronic Financial Transactions Act.

Through this, the plan is to raise the overall level of organizations, internal control systems, and governance of financial companies and electronic financial service providers by one step, enabling enterprise-wide responses to various digital financial risks including cyberattacks and voice phishing.

There is also a plan to promptly implement measures that mandate electronic financial service providers to externally deposit or entrust prepaid funds received and held from users.

Additionally, the financial authorities will prepare a 'Financial Sector Authentication and Identity Verification System Innovation Plan' in the third quarter of this year to innovate authentication and identity verification systems in the financial sector.

Regarding this, Chairman Eun explained, "While encouraging competition among various and convenient authentication methods expected after the abolition of the public certificate by the end of this year, we will prevent public inconvenience caused by the proliferation of certificates and improve the system while upholding the basic principles of protecting public assets and establishing order in financial transactions."

He also stated about big tech's entry into the financial industry, "Innovation through big tech should be encouraged, but side effects must be minimized," adding, "We will prepare a foundation for financial stability, consumer protection, and fair competition in anticipation of big tech's full-scale entry into the financial industry."