Lee Bok-hyun "Growing Criticism of Banks' Lack of Mutual Growth... Voluntary and Active Efforts Needed"

Oligopolistic Structure Criticized Again... "One-Time Efforts Are Not Enough"

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Lee Bok-hyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, visited bank branches to listen to consumers' voices and urged the banking sector to make more active and voluntary efforts for mutual growth.

On the 23rd, Governor Lee attended a meeting at the Hana Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, with Lee Seung-yeol, President of Hana Bank, small business owners, representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises, and individual borrowers, emphasizing this point. At the meeting, Governor Lee encouraged the launch of Hana Bank's preferential loan products for borrowers and directly heard the difficulties faced by financial consumers.

Governor Lee pointed out the lack of mutual growth efforts in the banking sector and criticized the oligopolistic structure of major banks. He stated, "Banks have become complacent with the oligopolistic structure, focusing on easy interest income, thereby weakening their growth potential and distributing profits as excessive performance bonuses, which has caused disappointment and relative deprivation among the public." He added, "The banking sector needs to actively pursue sincere efforts, not just one-off measures, to practice mutual growth finance, such as alleviating the burden on vulnerable borrowers, to share the pain of ordinary people going through difficult times."

The Financial Supervisory Service also plans to strengthen competition in the banking sector. It announced that it will induce mutual growth finance by reducing the excessive interest income derived from the oligopolistic position of major banks through narrowing the interest rate spread between loans and deposits, thereby sharing benefits with the public. Governor Lee said, "From a mid- to long-term perspective, we will review various ways to strengthen the bank's core function of supplying funds to the real economy by securing sufficient loss absorption capacity and improving competitiveness."

Lee Bok-hyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (center), is speaking at the Financial Consumer and Expert On-site Meeting held on the 23rd at the Hana Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul.