Partners to cooperate on embedding consumer protection education in the field

Lee Chan-jin: 'Awareness and practice must accompany institutional reform'

Financial Supervisory Service Director Lee Chan-jin (sixth from left) poses with key attendees at an MOU signing ceremony on training and strengthening financial consumer protection experts, held Friday at the Korea Financial Training Institute in Jongno-gu, Seoul. From left: Kim Ki-hong, chairman of JB Financial Group; Hwang Byung-woo, chairman of iM Financial Group; Lee Chan-woo, chairman of NH NongHyup Financial Group; Ham Young-joo, chairman of Hana Financial; Jin Ok-dong, chairman of Shinhan Financial; Director Lee; Cho Yong-byoung, chairman of the Korea Federation of Banks; Yang Jong-hee, chairman of KB Financial; Lim Jong-ryong, chairman of Woori Financial; Bin Dae-in, chairman of BNK Financial Group; and Lee Jun-su, president of the Korea Financial Training Institute. [FSS]
Financial Supervisory Service Director Lee Chan-jin (sixth from left) poses with key attendees at an MOU signing ceremony on training and strengthening financial consumer protection experts, held Friday at the Korea Financial Training Institute in Jongno-gu, Seoul. From left: Kim Ki-hong, chairman of JB Financial Group; Hwang Byung-woo, chairman of iM Financial Group; Lee Chan-woo, chairman of NH NongHyup Financial Group; Ham Young-joo, chairman of Hana Financial; Jin Ok-dong, chairman of Shinhan Financial; Director Lee; Cho Yong-byoung, chairman of the Korea Federation of Banks; Yang Jong-hee, chairman of KB Financial; Lim Jong-ryong, chairman of Woori Financial; Bin Dae-in, chairman of BNK Financial Group; and Lee Jun-su, president of the Korea Financial Training Institute. [FSS]

The Financial Supervisory Service, the Korea Financial Training Institute, the Korea Federation of Banks and eight major financial holding companies — KB, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, NH NongHyup, iM, BNK and JB — have agreed to work together to train financial consumer protection specialists and strengthen their capabilities.

The FSS signed a memorandum of understanding to that effect with the training institute and other parties Friday at the institute's main building in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

The agreement centers on building a cooperative framework among the FSS, the training institute and the banking sector to help banks embed consumer-centered, responsible business practices — and earn the trust of financial consumers — by strengthening their consumer protection capabilities.

Under the arrangement, the FSS will advise on curriculum content covering regulatory and supervisory directions and provide lecturers to ensure consumer protection courses run effectively. The training institute will develop and operate high-quality programs to cultivate specialist consumer protection personnel. The Korea Federation of Banks will facilitate communication and collaboration among the signatory institutions to broaden industry-wide participation in the training. Each financial holding company will encourage its executives and employees to take part in consumer protection education, raising the level of expertise on the front lines.

The signing ceremony was attended by FSS Director Lee Chan-jin, Korea Financial Training Institute President Lee Jun-su, Korea Federation of Banks Chairman Cho Yong-byoung, and the heads of all eight holding companies: Yang Jong-hee of KB, Jin Ok-dong of Shinhan, Ham Young-joo of Hana, Lim Jong-ryong of Woori, Lee Chan-woo of NH NongHyup, Hwang Byung-woo of iM, Bin Dae-in of BNK and Kim Ki-hong of JB.

Attendees agreed that strengthening financial consumer protection capabilities is a core task for building trust in the financial sector and achieving sustainable growth, and pledged mutual cooperation. The institutions plan to work together to embed consumer protection education in day-to-day operations, review outcomes and field feedback, and reflect changes in the financial environment and emerging issues to improve the program's effectiveness.

"Financial consumer protection is not a short-term cost — it is a long-term investment that raises trust in the financial industry and its growth potential," FSS Director Lee said. "It cannot be achieved through institutional reform alone; it is only complete when awareness and practice on the ground are added." He called on each holding company for its continued attention and support.

The heads of the eight holding companies responded by pledging to "build a corporate culture in which all executives and employees can put financial consumer protection into practice." Korea Federation of Banks Chairman Cho Yong-byoung said he would serve as a bridge to ensure that the financial authorities' policy direction and the industry's on-the-ground training needs are organically linked so that effective education programs can be operated.


ehkim@heraldcorp.com