[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 puts financial consumers first."

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 establish 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 have 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 by concentrating inspection capabilities on high-risk issues that could harm consumers and by 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 assist those struggling with high interest rates and inflation, we will expand inclusive finance, promote mid-interest rate loans, and activate debt restructuring. We will also expand supply chain finance, such as external receivables and pre-settlement loans, 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 management culture. To eradicate illegal private lending and voice phishing, we will launch a special judicial police force for financial crimes affecting people's livelihoods and strengthen cooperation with investigative authorities and relevant ministries, ensuring swift, field-oriented responses."

He also promised to restore trust in the capital market by taking a firm stance so that stock price manipulation becomes unthinkable. Governor Lee stated, "Focusing on the joint response team currently operating to eradicate stock price manipulation, we will intensify and accelerate investigations into major cases. At the same time, we will promptly investigate and refer unfair or unsound practices to prosecution, enforcing a zero-tolerance policy."

He further declared, "We will not neglect improvements to the capital market infrastructure, such as enhancing access for foreign investors, strengthening financial statement reviews for major listed companies, and reinforcing oversight of the KOSDAQ market to swiftly eliminate zombie companies."

Productive finance will also be a key focus. Governor Lee said, "To ensure we do not stop at nominal venture capital investment, we will expand both the quality and quantity of venture capital supply to foster a financial ecosystem that supports innovation among ventures and small and medium-sized enterprises. We will also rationalize the capital regulation system to channel surplus funds from banks into productive sectors, thereby enhancing the overall competitiveness of industries."

He also committed to strengthening financial security and protecting digital asset users. He stated, "By enhancing IT risk monitoring systems in 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 agencies to develop institutional improvement measures, including supervisory systems equivalent to those for financial institutions."