The Financial Services Commission decided to allocate an additional 3.9 billion won to increase investigation staff for the capital markets at the Financial Supervisory Service. The FSS's budget for this year was set at a total of 479 billion won, and the supplementary budget was allocated to add personnel for the bifurcated capital markets investigation.
According to the financial sector on the 2nd, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) plans to soon approve a supplementary budget of 3.9 billion won to add about 30 employees to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). This is the first time a supplementary budget has been allocated to the FSS.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) plans to add a total of 30 capital markets investigators: nine at grade 3 and 21 at grade 4 and below. The 3.9 billion won consists of 3.23 billion won for personnel expenses, 420 million won for operating expenses, and 250 million won in capital budget. The capital budget covers costs for purchasing equipment and fixtures and lease deposits.
Once the increase is complete, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) workforce will rise to 2,344 employees. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) said it will review hiring outcomes and performance for the added staff during next year's FSS headcount review.
With the revision to the special judicial police rules for capital markets taking effect this month, the FSS special judicial police can launch investigations directly without referral or notification to prosecutors by the Securities and Futures Commission under the Financial Services Commission (FSC). The FSS special judicial police directly investigate capital markets unfair trading such as stock manipulation and financial crimes that harm livelihoods, including illegal private lending.
Earlier, the FSS's budget for this year was set at a total of 479 billion won. That figure is up 6.71% from a year earlier, marking a second straight year of increases.