The Financial Supervisory Service said it has drawn up the 2026 inspection operations plan with the goal of building a financial industry that financial consumers can trust.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) plans to conduct 707 inspections this year. That is an increase from last year's 653. The annual number of inspectors also rose by 1,099 to 28,229 from a year earlier.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) will focus its inspection capacity this year on the financial consumer protection sector and carry out five planned thematic inspections across all financial sectors. Specifically, it will review internal controls across the entire lifecycle of financial products and conduct linked inspections between branches with high consumer risk factors and headquarters. It will also intensively check unfair business practices targeting low-income and vulnerable groups and examine internal control systems to ensure the stability of digital financial transactions. Internal control systems for preventing money laundering related to crimes that harm people's livelihoods will also be included as a focus of inspection.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) plans to concentrate on inspections to establish a preemptive financial consumer protection system. To that end, it will conduct reviews covering the entire process from manufacturing to sales and after-sales management of financial products to induce the establishment of a preemptive consumer protection system. In particular, it will closely examine the actual sales procedures of financial products and the adequacy of internal controls, and also look at the appropriateness of performance compensation systems to foster a business environment centered on financial consumer protection.
It will also strengthen inspections to respond preemptively to rapid changes in the financial environment, such as the increasing complexity and digitalization of finance. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) plans to expand an inspection framework based on collaboration and linkage, and to reinforce the management and review of new risk factors that may arise in the new financial environment.
Advancing the governance of financial companies and strengthening internal controls were also presented as key inspection tasks. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) plans to review banks' CEO succession procedures, the process for appointing outside directors, and overall performance compensation systems to induce governance improvements. At the same time, it will focus on internal control management systems based on responsibility maps and their implementation to enhance the effectiveness of internal controls.
It will also work to improve soundness by responding to risks and inspecting vulnerable sectors. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) will strengthen inspections of vulnerable sectors within financial firms to manage risk factors in advance and will review preparedness for newly introduced operations and systems to preemptively block factors that could cause consumer harm. Through this, it aims to actively facilitate the stable settlement of the systems.
In particular, ahead of the implementation of the second phase of virtual asset laws, it will review each operator's state of readiness and provide on-site consulting for any deficiencies. Through this, it plans to establish a supervisory system for virtual assets while minimizing related risks by securing IT safety and strengthening internal controls, especially by checking dual-verification systems.