[Q&A] Lee Chanjin Directly Criticizes Financial Holding Chairmen: "If You Wait Six Years, the Next Generation Also Becomes 'Antiques'"

At January 5 Press Conference, Sharp Criticism of Financial Holding Groups and Coupang Management
"Shareholders with True Representation Must Join Financial Holding Boards"
"Coupang Financial Under Investigation... Verifying Payment Data Leaks at Coupang Pay"

Lee Chanjin, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, delivered a pointed criticism on January 5 regarding the long-term reappointment of financial holding group chairmen, stating, "If you wait six years, the next generation of candidates will also age and become antiques."

Regarding Coupang Financial's "high-interest business," he said, "We are conducting a thorough on-site inspection and are in the process of transitioning to a formal investigation."

Lee Chanjin, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, delivers a New Year's address at the "2026 Pan-Financial New Year's Meeting" held at Lotte Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 5th. 2026.1.5 Photo by Kang Jinhyung

Governor Lee made these remarks during a New Year's press conference held at the FSS headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, on January 5.

The following is a Q&A with Governor Lee.

-Is there a possibility of transitioning to an investigation of Coupang Financial and Coupang Pay? Have you identified any violations at Coupang's headquarters?

▲Coupang Financial, unlike other distribution platforms, has an unusually long settlement cycle of over a month. When applying interest rates, they seem to use highly arbitrary calculation standards across factors such as cost, which ultimately results in excessive profits. We are in the stage of conducting a thorough inspection and transitioning to a formal investigation. From a business ethics perspective, it is indeed what is commonly referred to as "gapjil" (abuse of power). Regarding Coupang Pay, they claim there has been no payment information leak, but we are currently verifying this. We are cross-checking the flow of information between Coupang headquarters and Coupang Pay. No specific results have been produced yet regarding Coupang headquarters.

-You mentioned that large distribution platforms will be supervised at the same level as financial companies. What is the specific direction?

▲E-commerce is inseparable from payments. Since payments fall under the area of electronic financial transactions, they are subject to financial regulation, but the actual "core" of e-commerce regulation is split. When regulation is split, it becomes difficult to oversee higher-level platforms and predators beyond the financial sector.

-You mentioned that a task force to improve the governance structure of financial holding companies will be launched this month. Some are concerned about "government intervention" regarding the National Pension Service's right to recommend outside directors. What is your view?

▲The essence of the government's concerns regarding the governance of financial companies is whether the independence of the board of directors is functioning properly. There are issues of transparency and fairness in the CEO appointment process. There is a structure in which the terms of certain CEOs and directors coincide. If the problems and improvement directions identified by the task force are reflected, the process of drafting a legislative amendment will proceed as quickly as possible. I am not in a position to comment on the National Pension Service's (recommendation rights) issue. However, in terms of strengthening the independence of the board, it would be desirable for directors recommended by shareholder groups to join the board so that shareholder interests are represented objectively and fairly, in line with the amendment to the Commercial Act.

-You said problematic financial holding companies would be investigated. What is the status? Do you think the investigation will affect the approval process for the final chairman candidate?

▲As far as I know, the investigation began at the end of last year. I have not yet received a report. I plan to first review the results of the ad hoc inspection. Whether to expand the investigation to all financial holding groups will be decided after reviewing the results of the inspection of the relevant group. However, I intend to link this with the discussions of the joint public-private governance improvement task force. I am not emphasizing whether the outcome will determine the status of the candidate.

-What was the background for launching an investigation into BNK Financial Group? Why was the inspection advanced ahead of schedule?

▲Overall, there was a sense of great urgency. Many questioned why there were procedural issues when transparency was needed. The boards of financial holding groups are heavily weighted toward professors. I believe that structuring governance around directors who can best serve shareholder interests is more suitable for a capitalist market. If the board makes decisions uniformly and shares the same views as the CEO, there is no check and balance. Regarding CEO succession, if you consider whose will was mainly reflected, the answer becomes clear. Establishing next-generation leadership is also related-if reappointments continue for too long, if you wait six years, those (next-generation leaders) will also age and become antiques. This is connected to the independence of the board.

-If the FSS is granted investigative authority as a special judicial police force, what will be the scope of application? Are there internal discussions about overlapping work with the prosecution and the Financial Services Commission?

▲Currently, the FSS sanction process takes 11 weeks. If about three months are wasted, all the evidence is destroyed and scattered. The sense of urgency that "this cannot go on" is shared by the new administration, including President Lee Jaemyung. The authority will be limited to cases planned and investigated by the FSS and cases of unfair trading under the Capital Markets Act. A representative member from the Financial Services Commission’s Investigation Deliberation Committee will join the committee, and together with the FSS, will refer cases to the committee for review, decide whether to investigate, and conduct investigations under the direction of the prosecution. The investigation process and results will be reported to the Securities and Futures Commission. Discussions are ongoing with the Financial Services Commission.

-The FSS is scheduled to be reviewed by the Public Institution Management Committee at the end of this month. You have opposed designation as a public institution. Has your position changed?

▲That is correct. I still have concerns about designation as a public institution. We are trying to persuade the government. The FSS has relatively low independence. Our situation is far worse than that of the Bank of Korea. The Financial Services Commission decides the FSS budget and organization, and the Ministry of Economy and Finance acts as a "power above power" in the Public Institution Management Committee. I cannot understand what they intend to do. Independence, neutrality, and autonomy of financial supervisory institutions have become "global standards." Since this does not meet international standards, I expect that the FSS will not be designated as a public institution.