Lee Eog-weon, chairperson of the Financial Services Commission, said on the 28th that the need to grant the Financial Supervisory Service's special judicial police (special police) the authority to open investigations on their own is recognized, and that specific plans are being prepared. The Financial Services Commission has opposed granting a private body like the Financial Supervisory Service the authority to open investigations on its own, citing the risk of abuse of state power.
The chairperson held a press briefing at Government Complex Seoul on the morning of the day and said, "From the perspective of responding quickly to unfair trading in the capital market, the need to grant (the FSS special police) the authority to open investigations on their own has been recognized," stated accordingly.
The chairperson said a plan is also under discussion to additionally introduce the FSS special police limited to illegal private finance. The chairperson said, "Illegal private finance is among the crimes that harm people's livelihoods and requires on-site action and immediacy," and added, "There are areas where the police cannot give this field sufficient attention, and the FSS has a reporting system for illegal private finance, so there is a need to introduce the special police."
The chairperson said a control plan is being prepared for the FSS special police's authority to open investigations on their own, adding, "Because the Financial Services Commission (FSC) passes through a control mechanism called an investigation review committee when it holds the authority to open investigations and initiates one, we will use that as a model to specifically design the system."
Currently, the FSS capital market special police do not have the authority to open investigations on their own, so even if they detect suspected crimes, they cannot begin an investigation without approval from prosecutors. In response, Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin has consistently called for granting the special police the authority to open investigations on their own. The Financial Services Commission, however, has opposed granting such authority to the FSS, a private organization, citing concerns about abuse of power.
The Financial Services Commission's shift in position is seen as a response to President Lee Jae-myung's public order at the Cabinet meeting the previous day to grant the FSS special police the authority to open investigations on their own. At the Cabinet meeting broadcast live from the Blue House the previous day, the president said, "The special police are also judicial police, and it doesn't seem right that they must obtain a prosecutor's approval only for detection," and ordered, "Fix this."
At the Cabinet meeting, the chairperson said, "Because the FSS is a private organization, there were various concerns, including abuse of state power, when the system was introduced in 2015."
The Financial Services Commission will further tighten this year's cap on household loans by financial companies compared with the previous year. In particular, it will also push to manage targets for mortgage loans separately.
The chairperson said, "Household debt is a significant potential risk for Korean society, so we need to pay more attention and manage it consistently," and added, "We plan to announce the 2026 household debt management plan in February, and we will assign a more stringent target than last year for the entire financial sector." The chairperson continued, "Last year, the banking sector's household loan growth rate was about 1.8%, but we will set it lower than that for stricter management."
The chairperson said measures are also under review to strengthen the shareholder meeting approval requirements when appointing the chair of a financial holding company. The chairperson said, "Regarding the reappointment of financial holding company chief executive officers (CEOs), where issues of trench-building have been raised, we plan to review ways to strengthen shareholder control," and added, "We will consider strengthening the shareholder meeting approval requirements at the time of CEO appointment."
The Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service launched a corporate governance improvement task force (TF) on the 16th and are preparing improvements to the procedures for appointing financial holding company CEOs. The chairperson said, "We are discussing measures to improve the system, including the independence and diversity of boards, the fairness and transparency of CEO appointments, and the rationality of performance-based pay operations," and added, "Based on a range of expert opinions, overseas cases, and the FSS's fact-finding, we will prepare effective improvements by the end of March."
The chairperson said the Public Growth Fund investment review committee will convene on the 29th and plans to select the Shinan Uido offshore wind project as the first megaproject. The Shinan Uido offshore wind power project centers on installing 26 15-megawatt-class offshore wind turbines in waters southeast of Uido in Shinan, South Jeolla Province.
The chairperson said, "Through the presidential policy briefing, we announced seven first-round divestment projects, and among them we plan to discuss the establishment of renewable energy infrastructure tomorrow," and added, "For the remaining six, we will approve them sequentially, starting with those that are needed first, considering the state of preparations and the timing of funding needs."
The government will also introduce double-leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that use single stocks such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix as the underlying assets. The Financial Services Commission plans to give advance notice of a revision to the enforcement decree containing these details on the 30th. However, it decided not to introduce triple-leveraged ETFs.