The Financial Supervisory Service is pushing a plan to proactively identify complaints that should be referred to the Financial Dispute Mediation Committee. In the past, it proceeded with mediation first based on similar cases such as precedents, and if the dispute was not resolved, it moved to the committee. The measure is aimed at resolving disputes quickly to enhance consumer rights and interests.
According to the financial authorities on the 1st, the Financial Supervisory Service is reviewing a plan for the dispute resolution departments in each sector—such as the Consumer Rights Protection Department, the Bank Supervision Department, and Insurance Product Dispute Departments 1 and 2—to share incoming dispute cases. After reviewing the cases together, if they can be resolved through simple mediation, the mediation department will handle them, and if referral to the committee is needed, the Consumer Rights Protection Department will take charge.
The Financial Supervisory Service is also said to be discussing criteria for immediate referral to the committee. The committee is composed of external experts from fields such as medicine and law, and if the parties accept the mediation proposal, it carries the same effect as a court ruling.
The Consumer Rights Protection Department is a newly established unit through a recent organizational reshuffle that is exclusively responsible for convening the committee when disputes unresolved through mediation are filed. Before the reshuffle, a single department handled both mediation and committee-related tasks at once. It mediated disputes based on past precedents or committee outcomes, and if no such cases existed, it brought in experts from each field to convene the committee.
The Financial Supervisory Service is known to be reviewing this measure on the view that the approach of holding the committee only after mediation could delay resolution. The Financial Supervisory Service is also pushing for regular committee sessions. Previously, the committee was convened only when there were cases that needed referral, but now the intent is to hold the committee regularly to speed up dispute resolution.
The Financial Supervisory Service has recently been building a rapid response system to protect consumers. Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin also stressed this month that by transferring dispute mediation functions by sector, "we will establish a one-stop response system by sector and establish a supervisory culture centered on preemptive prevention."
An official at the Financial Supervisory Service said, "We are in talks to establish criteria for dispute responsibilities for each department."