Meeting with the Chairpersons of the Five Major Financial Holding Companies on the 31st
"Overseas Bank Failures... Must Unite to Stabilize the Market"
On the morning of the 31st, Kim Ju-hyun, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, at the Maehwa Hall of the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, held a meeting with Lee Bok-hyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, the heads of the five major financial holding companies, and the Chairman of the Korea Federation of Banks. He urged cooperation to spread a culture of responsibility for joint efforts to stabilize the financial market and restore trust in the financial sector.
On the morning of the 31st, Kim Joo-hyun, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, held a meeting at the Seoul Press Center with Lee Bok-hyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, the heads of the five major financial holding companies, and the Chairman of the Korea Federation of Banks, urging them to "fulfill their responsibilities for joint efforts to stabilize the financial market and restore trust in the financial sector."
Chairman Kim also stated, "Although the impact on our financial market is limited despite the insolvency of major overseas banks, we cannot afford to relax vigilance. Therefore, please join forces in efforts to stabilize the market in preparation for domestic and international uncertainties."
He continued, "Please pay attention to support programs such as debt restructuring with repayment deferral for vulnerable borrowers under the high-interest rate environment, and special guarantees for the lowest credit borrowers," adding, "In particular, we ask the financial sector to absorb cost increases such as rising interest rates as much as possible internally to minimize the transfer of interest rate hikes to borrowers."
Furthermore, Chairman Kim emphasized the importance of internal controls and risk management capabilities revealed through the soundness issues of global banks, requesting, "Please strive for responsible management so that the financial industry can be reborn as a trusted financial sector."
He mentioned, "We plan to simultaneously promote improvements in governance, including the ongoing work to improve internal control systems and the appointment of competent and qualified CEOs."
He also promised, "Provided that responsible management in the financial sector is a prerequisite, we will continue to promote regulatory innovation and the refinement of the disciplinary system to enhance the competitiveness and innovativeness of the financial industry."
At the meeting, Lee Bok-hyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, requested, "Please carefully ensure that financial difficulties of vulnerable groups are alleviated going forward," adding, "Given the potential expansion of volatility in domestic and international financial markets and the persistent risks in real estate project financing (PF), please strengthen your own crisis response systems, including ensuring that holding company affiliates have sufficient loss absorption capacity."
In response, the heads of the financial holding companies replied, "We will fulfill the roles and responsibilities that the financial market and customers expect from financial holding companies."
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