The personnel clock for senior officials at the Financial Services Commission is speeding up. As Lee Hyeong-ju, head of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), has thrown his hat in the ring for the next Suhyup Bank president, there is talk that follow-up appointments for grade-1 posts at the Financial Services Commission (FSC) could take place within the year. With no change at the top of the FSC expected for the time being, internal attention is turning to grade-1 personnel moves.
According to the financial sector on the 10th, Park Min-woo, standing Commissioner of the Securities and Futures Commission at the Financial Services Commission (FSC), is reportedly being mentioned as the successor to Woo Hae-young, CEO of Korea Money Brokerage. If Park moves to become the head of the money brokerage, follow-up grade-1 appointments are expected. Although Woo's term ended in March, he has continued as CEO because a successor has not been named.
On top of this, the FSC is abuzz as Director Lee Hyeong-ju has applied to become the next president of Suhyup Bank. It is unusual for a sitting grade-1 executive at the FSC to enter the selection process for CEO of a private financial company.
An FSC official said, "Director Lee had been mentioned as a candidate for first senior deputy governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, and many internally viewed his chances as high. It doesn't seem like a purely personal decision that he pivoted toward becoming Suhyup Bank president." The explanation was that a senior FSC official would not have applied to lead a private bank without rapport with higher-ups.
Grade-1 posts at the FSC include the Secretary-General, FSC standing Commissioner, Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) standing Commissioner, and FIU director—four positions. If Standing Commissioner Park and Director Lee respectively move to head the money brokerage and become Suhyup Bank president, two seats will be vacant. In addition, if a grade-1 official at the FSC moves to succeed Lee Se-hoon, first senior deputy governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), whose term ends in December, up to three seats could be vacant.
First Senior Deputy Governor Lee is being mentioned as the next head of Woori Financial Management Research Institute. As candidates for the next round of grade-1 promotions, Kim Jin-hong, director-general of the Financial Industry Bureau (administrative exam classes 40 and 41), and Jeon Yo-seop, director-general of the Financial Policy Bureau (class 41), are being mentioned. Within the FSC, there is also a view that if the number of grade-1 vacancies grows to three, a surprise appointment could emerge.
If grade-1 appointments take place within the year, the FSC's personnel backlog is expected to ease somewhat. The FSC is known as the slowest ministry for promotions. In other ministries, administrative exam classes 43 to 44 were promoted to deputy director-general (grade 3) three to four years ago. Deputy director-general is the rank just below senior civil servant. At the FSC, only recently have class 43 members been promoted to deputy director-general.
Chairperson Lee Eog-weon of the Financial Services Commission and Vice Chairperson Kwon Dae-young are said to be staying in their posts for the time being. A government official said, "Chairperson Lee and Vice Chairperson Kwon were not subject to personnel vetting in this reshuffle, as far as I know."