Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin said on the 5th that "financial consumer protection cannot be achieved by systems alone and can be completed only when awareness and practice in the financial field are added."
On this day, the governor signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Korea Federation of Banks and the eight major financial holding companies for "training experts in financial consumer protection and strengthening capabilities," and stated accordingly, saying, "Financial consumer protection is not a short-term expense but a long-term investment that raises trust in the financial industry and its growth potential."
The governor emphasized, "Capabilities in financial consumer protection must be steadily built with the mindset of jeoktoseongsan, which says that piling up small amounts of soil forms a great mountain."
The Financial Supervisory Service explained that the purpose of this MOU is to strengthen the financial sector's capabilities in financial consumer protection to establish consumer-centered, responsible sales practices and to build a cooperative framework to enhance financial consumer trust. The Financial Supervisory Service said the importance of financial consumer protection is higher than ever due to the accelerating digital transformation and the diversification and increasing complexity of financial products.
Under this memorandum, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) will support educational advice and lectures on regulatory and supervisory directions. The Korea Institute of Finance Training will be responsible for developing and operating consumer protection training programs. It will train professional personnel in consumer protection to raise employees' awareness of consumer protection.
The Korea Federation of Banks will identify interagency training demand and coordinate communication and collaboration, and the eight major financial holding companies agreed to encourage their employees to participate in training and strive to enhance consumer protection capabilities.
Participants agreed that strengthening capabilities in financial consumer protection is a key task for boosting trust in the financial sector and achieving sustainable growth, and decided to actively cooperate in training professional personnel for consumer protection and operating training programs.