The Financial Services Commission will launch a 13.3 trillion won financial support program to respond to heightened geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East stemming from U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran.
Lee Eog-weon, Chairperson of the Financial Services Commission, on the morning of the 3rd held a joint "financial market situation review meeting" at the Government Complex Seoul with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Bank of Korea, the Financial Supervisory Service, Korea Development Bank, Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK), Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KODIT), Korea Exchange (KRX), and the International Finance Center, and reviewed the impact of instability in the Middle East on domestic and overseas financial markets.
The meeting was arranged to review the impact of the recent expansion of geopolitical risks in the Middle East on domestic and global economic and financial markets, and to discuss support measures for small and midsize enterprises with a high share of exports to the Middle East.
The government plans to use the 13.3 trillion won financial support program currently operated by Korea Development Bank (8 trillion won), Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) (2.3 trillion won), and Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KODIT) (3 trillion won) to provide funding support and interest rate reductions to small and midsize enterprises affected by the situation in the Middle East. It will also operate a counseling center for corporations damaged by the Iran situation. In addition, it decided to actively implement, if necessary, market stabilization programs already prepared totaling 100 trillion won + α.
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) will maintain a 24-hour monitoring system centered on the "joint financial market task force on the Middle East situation," led by Secretary-General Shin Jin-chang, until the financial market stabilizes.
The government decided to respond with a zero-tolerance principle to unfair transaction practices such as fake news riding on market anxiety and price rigging.
Lee said, "When market uncertainty grows, various unfair transactions can occur due to investor anxiety," adding, "As this is a serious violation that undermines trust in the capital market, we will closely examine various unfair acts in the capital market, including the spread of fake news and price rigging, and punish them with zero tolerance."