As the geopolitical crisis deepens following U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran, the Financial Supervisory Service decided to form a "Middle East situation emergency response task force (TF)." The TF plans to monitor domestic and overseas financial market trends in real time amid instability in the Middle East.
On the 3rd, Lee Chan-jin, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), held an executives' meeting and prepared countermeasures for a prolonged Middle East situation. That day, the FSS decided to immediately form the Middle East situation emergency response TF. The TF will be composed of a secretariat (assistant deputy governor for planning and strategy), a general coordination team (Financial Market Stabilization Department), a trend monitoring team (Financial Market Stabilization Department, Foreign Exchange Supervision Department, Capital Market Supervision Department, Credit Supervision Department, overseas offices, etc.), and a countermeasure implementation team (Consumer Protection Supervision Coordination Department and each supervision and inspection department).
The FSS plans to establish a 24-hour response system, including activating hotlines with overseas offices and local subsidiaries of financial companies. At the same time, it will strengthen monitoring of stock, bond, and short-term money markets and foreign currency inflows and outflows. In cooperation with related agencies such as the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Financial Services Commission, and the Bank of Korea, it also plans to raise the emergency response level and implement immediate stabilization measures if the situation worsens. To prepare for increased volatility in the foreign exchange market, it will strengthen each financial company's foreign currency asset and liability management and check the effectiveness of emergency funding plans.
The FSS will review supply and demand conditions, including daily investor trends, to prepare for potential increases in volatility in Korea's stock and bond markets, and, if necessary, draw up joint response measures with related agencies. At the same time, it plans to respond strictly to unfair practices in the capital market, such as spreading false information and price rigging that exploit investor anxiety.
The FSS will check the funding conditions of corporations that have entered or transact in the region and are directly affected by the Middle East situation. Through the in-house counseling center for financing difficulties of small and medium-sized enterprises, it will identify difficulties faced by vulnerable SMEs and low-income groups that may see burdens rise due to higher oil prices, and, if necessary, prepare response measures in cooperation with relevant ministries. The FSS also plans to guide financial firms to focus on checking their internal systems to prepare for possible cyber hacking attempts and IT failures that could exploit unstable international conditions.
The FSS will operate its in-house emergency response system around the clock until the Middle East situation stabilizes and, in cooperation with the government and related agencies such as the Bank of Korea, will continue efforts to stabilize financial markets.