Financial Supervisory Service Establishes Fair Finance Promotion Committee... Interest Rates and Fees Inspection

On the 5th, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced the establishment of the 'Fair Finance Promotion Committee' to improve unfair financial practices.

The FSS explained the background by stating that criticism is growing that financial companies are focusing solely on pursuing company profits rather than consumer rights by exploiting their dominant position. The FSS added, "It is necessary to correct the uneven playing field between financial companies and consumers and establish a fairer transaction order."

The Fair Finance Promotion Committee has set as a priority task addressing acts that unfairly impose costs on consumers or discriminate against consumers without reasonable grounds in relation to interest rates and fee calculations. Additionally, it will investigate whether financial platform companies engage in unfair trade practices such as discriminating fees or imposing transaction conditions on weaker negotiating parties based on their dominant position.

The committee also plans to review improvements in business practices that hinder consumers' legitimate exercise of rights, such as insurance claim denials prioritized for company convenience and unfair debt collection, or prioritize the interests of affiliates and major shareholders over consumer rights.

The chairperson of the Fair Finance Promotion Committee will be the Director (Vice President) of the Financial Consumer Protection Department at the FSS, with deputy directors of the Financial Consumer Protection Department and deputy directors responsible for supervision and inspection of agenda items participating as members. External members of the committee will include Professor Lee Byung-jun from Korea University Law School and KBS reporter Park Jong-hoon.

The committee will proceed through three main stages: 'task discovery,' 'preparation and execution of improvement measures,' and 'post-management.' The committee will hold its first meeting this month to discuss future operational directions and procedures. Improvement measures for priority tasks such as interest rates and fees are expected to be announced after committee deliberation in January next year.