Lee Bok-hyun, Insurance CEOs Meeting... "Please Join Insurance Reform and PF Measures"

Financial Supervisory Service Chief Holds First Meeting of the Year with Insurance Company CEOs

Lee Bok-hyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, met with CEOs of insurance companies and urged them to actively participate in insurance reform and contribute to the smooth landing of real estate project financing (PF).

On the 30th, Governor Lee held a meeting with representatives of 12 major domestic insurance companies. This was the first official meeting between Governor Lee and insurance company representatives. During the meeting, they discussed key issues facing the insurance sector and explored future directions for the development of the insurance industry.

Lee Bok-hyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service.

Governor Lee requested the insurance industry to join the insurance reform efforts to become a reliable partner for consumers. He pointed out, "The insurance industry is bearing the disgrace of being called the 'king of complaints' due to cutthroat competition in a saturated market without finding a breakthrough for growth." He added, "Although the sales practices improved compared to the previous year following a recent mystery shopping survey on whole life insurance, there were still shortcomings such as explaining whole life insurance as a savings-type insurance or providing insufficient information on unfavorable terms to customers."

The financial authorities launched an insurance reform committee on the 7th, involving industry, academia, and government. They plan to prepare institutional improvement measures for each task by the end of this year and announce the final reform plan around next year.

Governor Lee also urged the insurance industry to contribute to financial market stability, including the smooth landing of the real estate PF market. He noted that the insurance industry has played a significant role in stabilizing the market by timely supplying long-term funds whenever financial market instability occurred. He requested the insurance industry to fulfill its role as institutional investors in the PF smooth landing measures prepared on the 13th. Governor Lee said, "We expect the insurance industry to act as a primer that helps the virtuous cycle of funds in the PF market by supplying new funds to projects that are likely to be normalized with profitability as a premise." He added, "The financial authorities will also promptly prepare effective incentive measures to expand the private sector’s demand base."

Governor Lee asked the insurance industry to pay attention to sustainable growth, including discovering new growth engines for the industry's leap forward. He said, "The domestic insurance market is saturated and facing growth limits, and it is highly exposed to three major changes: population, climate, and digitalization." He emphasized, "Efforts to pioneer markets such as discovering new businesses that can enhance consumer welfare and expanding overseas entry are necessary."

Insurance company representatives attending the meeting expressed their intention to participate in insurance reform to restore consumer trust and achieve sustainable growth. They also requested institutional support such as stabilization of the new International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS17) and activation of the pet insurance market.