FSS to Sharply Expand Inspection Team for Samsung Fire & Marine in March... Lee Chanjin's "Consumer Protection" Drive Accelerates

This year’s regular inspection workforce for insurers to be expanded by around 40% from previous years
First inspections since insurance units were brought under the Financial Consumer Protection Bureau...fully reflecting the consumer protection-focused stance

Starting next month with Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) will launch this year's regular inspections of insurance companies. Up to around 35 personnel, a sharp increase from previous years, will be deployed for this inspection, which is an unusually large scale for a regular inspection of insurers. As this is the first regular inspection to fully reflect the strengthened "consumer protection" stance under FSS Governor Lee Chanjin, it is seen as signaling a strong intention to form a large inspection team and focus intensively on consumer protection areas.

Lee Chanjin, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, is attending a meeting with chief executive officers of securities firms held at the Korea Financial Investment Association in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul on Feb. 10, 2026, delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dongju

According to the financial authorities on the 24th, the FSS has selected Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance and Kyobo Life Insurance as the targets for this year’s first-half regular inspections of insurance companies. The plan is to begin with Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance in March and then proceed sequentially.

An official from the financial authorities said, "The FSS plans to significantly expand the headcount for regular inspections of insurers from the usual mid-20s level to the mid-30s this time," adding, "As insurance-related units that had been dispersed have been integrated and expanded under the Financial Consumer Protection Bureau, the number of personnel assigned has also increased, which will allow for more intensive inspections of consumer protection areas."

Until now, the FSS has typically deployed around 20 general inspectors and about 5 IT personnel for regular inspections of financial companies such as banks and insurers. This year, it will increase the number of general inspectors for insurers to about 30 and, including 5 IT personnel, form an inspection team of up to around 35 people. This represents an expansion of roughly 30% to 40% compared with previous levels. Through this, the FSS plans to closely examine not only basic management areas such as financial soundness, governance, and the operation of internal controls, but also the entire spectrum of consumer touchpoints, from product design and manufacturing to underwriting, sales, post-sale management, and dispute resolution.

This is also the first regular inspection of insurers to be conducted under Governor Lee Chanjin’s leadership. Since taking office, Lee has carried out a consumer protection-centered reorganization and has stated that he will restructure the supervisory framework into one that places top priority on consumer protection. The expansion of inspection personnel is likewise in line with this supervisory direction.

At the end of last year, the FSS incorporated its existing insurance-related units under the Financial Consumer Protection Bureau through an organizational restructuring. Under former Governor Lee Bokhyun, functions related to insurance products and inspections, and those related to disputes, belonged to separate units and were, in effect, bifurcated. After the reorganization, all tasks related to products, supervision and inspections, and disputes were placed under the Vice Governor for Insurance, Seo Youngil, so that insurance-related issues can be managed within a unified framework.

Because the insurance sector accounts for a high share of complaints and disputes, the FSS plans to focus on reviewing the overall state of consumer protection systems. Inspections that link insurance companies with corporate insurance agencies (GAs) will also be conducted in parallel, as in previous years.

However, the FSS will not assign a separate, dedicated consumer protection inspection team for insurer inspections, unlike in this year’s regular inspections of banks. This is because, unlike the banking sector, where supervision and inspections have traditionally focused on soundness, consumer protection issues in the insurance sector have long been subject to ongoing, routine scrutiny.

Taking into account the increased burden on financial companies from the expanded inspection workforce, the FSS intends to minimize duplication of work and enhance inspection efficiency by measures such as unifying service channels following the organizational consolidation.

An official from the financial authorities said, "With insurance product and dispute functions within the FSS now unified in a single organization, supervision and inspections can be conducted from an integrated perspective," adding, "This will further accelerate the shift toward a consumer protection-centered supervisory approach."