[New Year's Address] FSS Governor Lee Chanjin: "Financial Consumer Protection Is the Top Priority This Year"

Lee Chanjin, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, Delivers 2026 New Year's Address
Emphasizes Financial Consumer Protection, Inclusive Finance, and Productive Finance
Highlights the Importance of Capital Market Order and Discipline

Lee Chanjin, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (left). Photo by Dongju Yoon

Lee Chanjin, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, stated, "This year, we will establish and actively operate a supervisory system that prioritizes financial consumers."

On January 1, Governor Lee delivered his New Year's address, emphasizing, "The Financial Supervisory Service will make consumer protection the starting point of all supervisory activities and firmly embed the principle of consumer-centricity throughout all operations."

He explained, "Through organizational restructuring, we have placed the consumer protection division directly under the Governor and assigned it an overarching supervisory role. In addition, we have transferred dispute resolution functions to each business sector to establish a one-stop response system for each sector, and redesigned the Financial Supervisory Service's work processes to focus on proactive financial consumer protection."

He added, "Building on institutional reforms, we will continue company-wide efforts to protect financial consumers, such as concentrating inspection capabilities on high-risk issues that may harm consumers and establishing responsible management among financial companies."

Governor Lee also pledged to provide robust support to ordinary citizens and vulnerable groups through inclusive finance this year. He said, "To support those struggling with high interest rates and inflation, we will expand inclusive finance, revitalize mid-interest rate loans, and promote debt restructuring. Furthermore, we will expand supply chain finance, such as external receivables loans and pre-settlement financing, to foster co-growth with small and medium-sized enterprises."

He continued, "We will establish a comprehensive evaluation system for inclusive finance practices in the banking sector to encourage the adoption of inclusive financial management culture. In addition, we will launch a special judicial police force for financial crimes affecting people's livelihoods, such as illegal private lending and voice phishing, and strengthen cooperation with investigative authorities and relevant ministries to ensure swift, field-oriented responses."

He also promised to restore trust in the capital market by responding firmly to stock price manipulation so that such acts become unthinkable. Governor Lee said, "We will intensify and accelerate investigations into major cases through the joint task force currently operating to eradicate stock price manipulation. At the same time, we will promptly investigate and refer unfair or unsound practices for prosecution, enforcing a zero-tolerance policy."

He further stated, "We will not neglect improvements to the capital market infrastructure, such as enhancing access for foreign investors, strengthening financial statement reviews for large listed companies, and expediting the removal of zombie companies through stricter oversight of the KOSDAQ market."

Productive finance will also be a key focus. Governor Lee emphasized, "To ensure that venture capital investment is not merely symbolic, we will pursue both qualitative and quantitative expansion of venture capital supply to create a financial ecosystem that supports innovation among venture and small businesses. We will also rationalize capital regulations to channel surplus funds from the banking sector into productive areas, thereby enhancing overall industry competitiveness."

He also announced plans to strengthen financial security and protect digital asset users. "By reinforcing the IT risk monitoring system within the financial sector, we will activate immediate inspection and response systems in the event of major incidents such as hacking or information leaks. For large distribution platforms, we will work with relevant organizations to develop institutional improvements, including supervisory frameworks equivalent to those applied to financial institutions," he asserted.