Lee Chan-jin, head of the Financial Supervisory Service, publicly called for strengthening the Financial Supervisory Service's special judicial police (special police) authority.
At a Financial Services Commission (FSC) briefing on the 19th, Lee said, "Currently, the FSS's special police authority is limited to the capital market and unfair transaction, so it has no authority," and added, "In the areas handled by the special police, there is no authority at the investigation stage, so the scope of work is restricted to a very small portion."
On the authority of the FSS special police, Lee said, "There is no power to conduct compulsory investigations, and there is also no 'cognition authority.' It is restricted by an administrative rule," and added, "Without authority, we ultimately have to rely only on the prosecution, but inside the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), there is also the burden that the general capital market investigation function has shrunk by more than 20% due to the increase in personnel dispatched to the joint response team."
The special police is a system that grants limited investigative powers to officials at relevant administrative agencies to improve the efficiency of investigations into crimes in specialized fields. Currently, the FSS's special police duties are limited to unfair transaction in the capital market, such as stock price manipulation.
President Lee Jae-myung asked Lee whether the special police is also necessary for cracking down on illegal private lending. When Lee said, "Under the current special police law, there is no legal basis for establishing a special police for illegal private lending, so a legal provision must be created," President Lee instructed, "Crackdowns on illegal private lending must also be strengthened. Prepare it at the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and push it forward."
However, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the higher-level body, signaled caution about expanding the authority. Park Min-woo, a standing member of the Securities and Futures Commission, said, "If we grant broad investigative powers to those with civilian status, there could be concerns about public legal sentiment or potential abuse."