The Financial Supervisory Service said it held a "responsibility map briefing" on the 5th together with the Korea Financial Investment Association for small and mid-sized financial investment firms.
The briefing was prepared to inform financial investment firms required to submit responsibility maps this year of their filing obligations and to introduce a sample responsibility map for small and mid-sized firms prepared by the association.
About 650 people, including compliance officers at private asset managers and investment advisory/discretionary firms and staff in charge of responsibility map-related work, attended. Considering demand, the briefing was held twice, in the morning and afternoon.
Starting this year, about 1,007 financial investment firms with assets under 5 trillion won and assets under management under 20 trillion won must submit responsibility maps to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) by July 2.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has informed firms of the purpose of the responsibility map system and the filing obligation through press releases and briefings, but opinions have been raised that small and mid-sized firms with five or fewer executives face difficulties in drafting responsibility maps due to constraints on human and physical resources.
In response, the association prepared and distributed to member firms a simplified sample responsibility map that small and mid-sized firms can use. The sample includes a job description by key position, a responsibility structure chart, and drafting guidelines for private managers and investment advisory/discretionary firms. The explanation said firms with around five executives can refer to the sample to draft their responsibility maps.
However, it said the sample is merely a reference to ease the drafting burden and is not a standard form to be applied uniformly to all companies. Each firm must supplement and draft its map autonomously based on the sample, taking into account its own organizational structure and executive composition. It also added that drafting according to the sample does not guarantee approval regarding the appropriateness of the entries or the legality of the allocation of responsibilities.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said it may request corrections or supplements if a submitted responsibility map does not meet format requirements, omits important matters, or contains unclear entries.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and the association plan to continue supporting firms so they can prepare and operate responsibility maps in line with the system's purpose. To strengthen internal control capabilities, the association has run the "practical drafting of responsibility maps for private managers" training course four times and plans to add three more sessions within the year.