The Financial Supervisory Service union pushed back strongly Monday against the government's plan to relocate the watchdog outside Seoul.
The FSS union issued a statement Monday demanding an immediate halt to the plan, calling it "the worst possible move — one that would push a supervisory body that must stand at the front lines of financial oversight to the back lines." The union said media reports had indicated the FSS would be included in the government's second round of public institution relocations, set to be announced later this month.
"This reflects a fixation on the uniform goal of relocating the majority of public institutions, with a complete disregard for the voices of consumers and the financial industry," the union said.
The union pointed to the heavy concentration of financial activity in the greater Seoul area — 81.4 percent of financial complaints, 91.6 percent of financial company head offices, 88.3 percent of on-site inspection targets and 72.7 percent of listed company headquarters are all based there. "A physical disconnect from the financial supervision field will lead to serious harm for financial consumers," it said.
The union also warned of operational inefficiencies, saying FSS staff would be forced to make reverse business trips to Seoul to conduct face-to-face meetings for the hundreds of licensing approvals, regulatory filings and on-site inspections that occur each year.
The union said rising supervision costs would push up the fees financial institutions pay toward regulatory oversight, with those increases ultimately passed on to consumers through higher lending rates and service charges.
"If a mass exodus of core specialists triggered by the relocation is added to the mix, supervisory capacity will deteriorate sharply and consumer harm will spread beyond control," the union said. "We strongly oppose the relocation of the FSS and call for the immediate abandonment of this plan."
gil@heraldcorp.com
