Lee Chan-jin, head of the Financial Supervisory Service, said that if the FSS special judicial police (special police) are granted the authority to initiate investigations, it will prevent abuse through control measures.

The Financial Supervisory Service is currently arguing that it should be granted the authority for its special police to initiate investigations and that the scope of their duties should be expanded to include livelihood-related financial crimes, accounting oversight, and inspections of financial companies. The FSS special police are limited to opening and conducting investigations only into "cases under the direction of a prosecutor's investigation" among crimes stipulated in the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act.

Lee Chan-jin, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, attends a full meeting of the National Policy Committee at the National Assembly on the 5th and watches statements on procedure by ruling and opposition lawmakers. /Courtesy of Yonhap News

Lee Young-ha of the People Power Party said at the National Policy Committee's full session on the morning of the 5th that "the Financial Supervisory Service is a private institution, but it has sanctioning powers such as investigation and inspection," and added, "Seeking even the authority to initiate investigations is an ambition to move beyond a supervisory body into a quasi-judicial body." He went on, "The FSS should first accept designation as a public institution, which it currently refuses, and also secure control measures over the authority to initiate investigations."

Lee Chan-jin, head of the FSS, said, "The current scope of the special police's authority to initiate investigations in the capital market is limited to unfair trading cases in the capital market, and the scope of investigations for the livelihood financial crime special police being set up is also confined to illegal private financing crimes," and added, "For the FSS special police, we are coordinating to establish an investigation review committee at the Financial Services Commission (FSC) to exercise control. Substantial control mechanisms will operate over the authority to initiate investigations."

Lee Eog-weon, chair of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), explained, "The FSC and the FSS are aligning views on what system would be reasonable to create to control the special police."

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