Lee Chanjin: "Financial Consumer Protection to Focus on Prevention... Stronger Oversight of Product Design"

Establishment of Financial Consumer Protection Supervisory Headquarters
Moving Away from Post-Incident Consumer Protection
Clarifying Responsibilities in Financial Product Design and Sales
Organizational Restructuring and Personnel Appointm

Lee Chanjin, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, is attending the 'Financial Supervisory Service Governor - Insurance Company CEO Meeting' held at the Life Insurance Education and Culture Center in Jongno-gu, Seoul on September 1, 2025. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

Lee Chanjin, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, officially announced on the 1st that a new "Comprehensive Supervision Headquarters for Financial Consumer Protection" will be established. The aim is to move away from a consumer protection policy that focuses on post-incident remedies and instead clarify responsibilities for consumer protection from the design to the sale of financial products. Based on this, the agency plans to complete regular personnel appointments and organizational restructuring by the end of the year.

At his first press conference since taking office, held at the Financial Supervisory Service headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, Lee stated, "We are in the process of redesigning key operations such as personnel, supervision, and inspection to be centered around financial consumers," and added, "We plan to establish a new headquarters that will serve as a control tower for consumer protection supervision."

Lee pointed out, "Until now, the Financial Consumer Protection Bureau has operated separately, which led to the perception that consumer protection was only the responsibility of that bureau, not the entire Financial Supervisory Service." He emphasized, "In response, we will improve the system so that under the responsibility of executives in charge of each sector, supervision and product-related matters are handled in a one-stop manner."

He continued, "I believe that initiatives such as the 'Management Complaint Counseling Day' and the 'Financial Consumer Protection Forum' have demonstrated our commitment to financial consumer protection. We will continue to make improvements so that these efforts become firmly rooted throughout the organization and do not remain one-off events."

During the press conference, Lee strongly expressed his commitment to "financial consumer protection." In his opening remarks, he announced the establishment of the "Comprehensive Supervision Headquarters for Financial Consumer Protection," and he maintained this stance throughout the Q&A session with reporters.

In response to questions about organizational restructuring, he said, "We are restructuring the organization with the goal of implementing proactive consumer protection. Operating the Financial Supervisory Service under the current Financial Consumer Protection Bureau system has resulted in consumer protection being focused on post-incident remedies, and addressing this is our top priority."

Lee also stated, "While there are issues with the improper sale of financial products, we must also address manufacturing responsibilities," and specifically emphasized strengthening supervision to ensure that consumer protection is effectively implemented from the product design stage.

He added, "We are working to clearly define the responsibilities in the financial product design and sales sectors, and to specify how consumer protection will be ensured in the design phase. Internally, we are establishing precise regulations on how product distributors should fulfill their obligation to explain product risks and other requirements when entering into consignment contracts with product designers."

Lee explained that the Financial Supervisory Service is conducting independent checks by business sector and is reorganizing by assigning the Comprehensive Supervision Bureau for Financial Consumer Protection to focus on proactive prevention.

Personnel appointments for this purpose are also underway. Lee said, "I expect the organizational restructuring to be finalized by the end of December. We are currently verifying executive appointments, and results are expected soon."

He added, "There are newly established departments and new missions assigned in connection with national policy tasks, so the restructuring plan reflects these changes. All personnel appointments are expected to be completed by January 10."

When asked whether the policy of strengthening responsibility for consumer protection from the product manufacturing stage means enhanced preemptive checks, Lee replied, "When creating financial products, distributors are arranged in advance during the design process. We are preparing a standard manual to ensure that financial consumer protection is prioritized in this process."

Lee emphasized, "Financial institutions should strengthen their internal controls and accountability structures during the manufacturing process, refrain from creating products they would not recommend to their own families, and institutionalize measures to prevent the sale of high-risk financial products to general consumers. This is about encouraging voluntary self-regulation."

He further explained, "We are currently discussing at a practical level how to define risk, how to explain products in a way that meets consumer expectations, how to embody the spirit of the Financial Consumer Protection Act, and to what extent these elements can be incorporated without stifling the industry."

Furthermore, Lee stated that a comprehensive approach will be taken to reflect financial consumer protection in financial companies' KPI systems. He added, "We will also take a comprehensive approach so that the performance evaluation and compensation system can be deferred in the long term. We are in the process of reorganizing the product and service sales process by business sector so that proactive financial consumer protection is not just a slogan."