Big Tech Leaders, Financial Holding Companies, and Banks Attend
Interest Grows Over Whether 'Same Function, Same Regulation' Discussions Will Continue
[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] Financial Services Commission Chairman Ko Seung-beom is set to hold his first meeting with major big tech (large information technology companies) representatives since taking office. As this meeting is arranged for Chairman Ko to hear voices from the field, there is growing interest in whether concrete discussions related to regulations such as the recently controversial ‘same function, same regulation’ principle will emerge.
According to the financial sector on the 28th, Chairman Ko is coordinating schedules with related companies to hold a ‘Digital Innovation Finance Roundtable’ as early as next week. At this roundtable, big tech company representatives expected to attend include Choi In-hyuk, CEO of Naver Financial, and Lee Seung-geon, CEO of Viva Republica (Toss). Ryu Young-jun, CEO of Kakao Pay, will attend in his capacity as chairman of the Korea Fintech Industry Association.
At this meeting, Chairman Ko plans to listen to and communicate about industry field requests and difficulties through the roundtable. In particular, key issues of digital finance such as platformization, data innovation infrastructure construction, financial innovation through artificial intelligence (AI), and digital trust will be discussed in one place. The industry expects that the results of this roundtable could be reflected in the announcement of the main directions for the ‘Digital Innovation Finance Development Strategy’ at the end of this year and in next year’s work plan.
Above all, there is keen interest in what support policies Chairman Ko will propose for the fintech industry. Since taking office, he has held a series of meetings with financial holding companies, banks, insurance companies, and card companies, presenting customized support policies for the industry. On the other hand, since this roundtable will also include big tech, financial holding companies, commercial banks, insurance companies, card companies, securities firms, insurtech, fintech security solutions, associations, and related organizations, there are mixed views that it may not be easy for the fintech industry’s active opinions to be fully reflected.
The most critical topic is expected to be fair competition among big tech companies, which has recently become controversial. Chairman Ko has emphasized the ‘same function, same regulation’ principle for big tech companies since shortly after his inauguration. At a roundtable with financial holding companies last September, he stated, "(The same function, same regulation principle) is necessary from the perspective of protecting financial consumers and financial stability," but also said, "It does not mean revising fintech promotion or the policies the FSC has been pursuing." On the other hand, fintech companies argue that this policy is unreasonable. Jang Sung-won, Secretary General of the Fintech Industry Association, emphasized at a recent Fintech Industry Association press conference, "Applying the same regulation simply based on the superficial ‘function’ is unreasonable when the revenue structures and benefits guaranteed differ according to the characteristics of the licenses." He also said, "It is essential to amend the Electronic Financial Transactions Act to reflect a system and regulatory framework reform that aligns with digital finance development, so that electronic financial operators can comply with and be protected under ‘same license, same regulation.’"
Meanwhile, separate from this roundtable, the FSC is planning a meeting to support fintech promotion. This meeting, mainly involving small and startup fintech companies, was originally scheduled for the 25th but has been postponed to mid-next month due to the recent COVID-19 situation.
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