The Financial Supervisory Service increased its budget by nearly 7% this year, marking a second straight year of expansion. This year, the Financial Supervisory Service has a number of major items on its plate, including creating a special judicial police unit for livelihood crimes such as voice phishing and investigating the governance of financial firms, raising the possibility that the budget could increase further during the year.
According to the financial sector on the 5th, the Financial Supervisory Service's budget for this year was set at a total of 479 billion won. That is up 6.71% from a year earlier, rising for the second straight year. Inside the Financial Supervisory Service, there is talk that the budget is still insufficient given the workload. Even though the Financial Supervisory Service sharply increased its budget last year in consultation with the Financial Services Commission, the budget for overtime pay for employees who frequently worked late was insufficient. Although the Financial Supervisory Service is not a public institution, it is subject to a total personnel cost system, under which the aggregate personnel expenses to be used in a year are set and executed together with the Financial Services Commission (FSC).
This year, the introduction of a special judicial police unit at the Financial Supervisory Service is under discussion, which could increase staffing. In that case, the Financial Supervisory Service plans to seek a budget increase in consultation with the Financial Services Commission (FSC). Until now, there has been no case of the Financial Supervisory Service's budget being increased during the year. A Financial Supervisory Service official said, "If the number of special judicial police rises into double digits, there could be a budget shortfall. In such a case, we will actively consult with the Financial Services Commission."
The Financial Supervisory Service is consulting with the Financial Services Commission (FSC) on the scope of duties for the special judicial police. It is considering internal control mechanisms to address concerns about potential abuse of public authority if the scope of investigations is expanded, and once that is finalized, staffing will also be discussed in detail. The financial authorities believe that, because expansion of the investigative scope is highly likely, a substantial number of personnel will be needed.
Of this year's Financial Supervisory Service budget, 73.8% comes from supervisory contributions collected from financial companies and corporations, and the Financial Supervisory Service will hold a briefing for these companies next month.
The Financial Supervisory Service plans to focus a large portion of this year's budget on strengthening digital capabilities. In light of a series of hacking incidents last year, it will reinforce ex-ante supervisory functions for digital security risks and concentrate on advancing supervision by using artificial intelligence (AI) to detect unfair transactions.