The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) is expanding its collaboration to enhance consumer protection capabilities beyond the banking sector to include financial investment, insurance, credit finance, and savings banks.
On July 21, the FSS announced that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Korea Financial Investment Association, the Life Insurance Association, the General Insurance Association, the Credit Finance Association, the Korea Savings Bank Association, and the Insurance Education Institute to strengthen the consumer protection capabilities of financial company employees.
Lee Chan-jin, the head of the FSS, emphasized that "consumer protection should not be limited to post-management aspects such as handling complaints or disputes," adding that "consumer protection must be embedded throughout the entire process of financial companies' operations, from product planning and design to sales, post-management, and internal controls."
He further stated that it is necessary to implement systematic training programs to ensure that executives, including Chief Consumer Protection Officers (CCOs), possess adequate awareness and expertise in consumer protection. Lee also pledged that the FSS would actively support educational content and lectures based on the cases and experiences accumulated during supervision and inspection processes.
Under this agreement, the FSS will provide consulting and lectures on educational content related to consumer protection and key issues in each sector, while the associations and training institutions will develop and operate training programs that reflect the characteristics of their respective sectors and expand participation from member companies.
In the second half of this year, a pilot training program focused on case studies will be conducted for executives, including CCOs and planning department heads, as well as department heads responsible for consumer protection. Following this, the FSS plans to formalize consumer protection training programs based on the results of the training and the demands of each sector.
Leaders of financial associations expressed their agreement that consumer protection is a core issue for the trust and sustainable growth of the financial industry, and they aim to enhance the effectiveness of training by reflecting the characteristics of each sector and expanding participation from member companies.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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