Kim Byung-wook Proposes Amendment to Financial Consumer Protection Act... "Attendance at Dispute Mediation Committee to Be by Lottery, Not Nomination"

"Revision Needed to Ensure Neutrality and Expertise of Dispute Mediation Committee"

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] On the 4th, Kim Byung-wook, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, announced that he has introduced a bill to amend the "Financial Consumer Protection Act" to secure the neutrality and expertise of the Financial Supervisory Service's Dispute Mediation Committee.

Financial dispute mediation is a dispute resolution method in which the Financial Supervisory Service accepts mediation requests regarding disputes raised by financial consumers against financial companies, proposes reasonable dispute resolution plans or mediation opinions, and induces agreement between the parties, thereby resolving disputes amicably without litigation.

Recently, amid a series of incidents such as KIKO and Lime, applications for dispute mediation related to financial investment products have been increasing. However, situations have arisen where the Financial Supervisory Service's dispute mediation system fails to obtain consent from both financial companies and financial consumers, raising calls for institutional improvements to secure expertise and independence to ensure the effectiveness of the Dispute Mediation Committee for financial consumer damage relief.

Kim's office explained, "Through this amendment, we aim to enhance effectiveness by securing the neutrality and expertise of the Dispute Mediation Committee," and added that ▲ the appointment of mediation committee members should include at least one member representing the mediation target institution and one representing financial consumers, recommended by organizations, ▲ the selection of the mediation committee should be determined by a lottery method at each meeting, including at least one mediator representing the mediation target institution, one representing financial consumers, and one agreed upon by the applicant and related parties, and ▲ dispute parties and stakeholders should be allowed to attend mediation committee meetings without separate permission to state opinions or submit necessary materials.

Kim said, “To smoothly resolve increasingly complex financial products and various related financial disputes, securing the neutrality and expertise of the current dispute mediation system is a priority,” adding, “The status of the Dispute Mediation Committee must be established properly to gain trust from financial companies and consumers, enabling effective mediation. Furthermore, as this will contribute to the sound development of the financial industry, related institutional improvements should lay the foundation for restoring financial trust.”