Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin urged restraint in marketing foreign-currency financial products that exploit expectations of a rise in the won-dollar exchange rate.
On the day, Lee held a market conditions review meeting and said, "Driven by vague expectations of a rise in overseas asset values, overseas stock investment and sales of foreign-currency financial products are increasing," and noted, "The risk of financial consumer losses due to exchange rate fluctuations has grown."
Lee ordered guidance, including through meetings with financial company management, to refrain from excessive marketing and events for foreign-currency financial products. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) plans to monitor sales practices related to foreign-currency financial products.
Lee said the agency would actively support the industry and relevant ministries so that products such as the return-to-domestic-market account (RIA) and individual investor currency-hedging products can be launched as soon as possible. RIA is a product that provides tax-exempt benefits to investors who sell overseas stocks and return to the domestic stock market.
Lee said, "By continuously improving the foreign investment environment, we will ensure that inclusion in the FTSE World Government Bond Index scheduled for Apr. proceeds without a hitch, and we will actively support inclusion in the MSCI developed markets index."