Chairman Yim Jong-yong of the Financial Service Commission.(Photo:FSC)

Chairman Yim Jong-yong of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) said recently that it takes a long time for clients of financial institutions to feel the financial reforms personally because the policies to make those changes a reality start from the financial companies themselves.

The FSC chairman, in his media conference held on Sept. 2 at the FSC office in the Joong Ward in Seoul, made the statement in an answer to a question about why financial reforms take such a long time for customers feel them personally.

Yim said the financial reforms are made to improve the financial market systems and financial companies mainly to ease the financial regulations and the customers of the financial companies would realize the reforms when the results of those changes occur.

The financial reforms are made to benefit the customers of the financial institutions ultimately with the financial institutions performing their given roles to channel funds for the people, along with the best financial services to customers so that high added values are created for the national economy.

Yim also unveiled a new vision for financial reforms to be made by the FSC. The first item on the to-do list is that reforms should be made so that they can help the people increase their wealth; second, the supply of financial funds to business firms and homes is smoothly made; and third, they should also help youths to find jobs.

The FSC will try to find ways to help the financial firms boost their capacities independently.

The FSC announced shadow regulatory reform measures, which will have the financial authorities find ways to reform themselves to prevent unsustainable financial policies from being created, and divide up the financial power of the financial authorities. He also unveiled rules relating to non-interference in the loan interest rates business, and fees on financial deals charged by them. He said the liberalization of financial regulations does not mean allowing the financial firms to boost their interest rates on a whim, as they are decided by the market forces in response to demand for loans, the segregated nature of the financial services, and the intensity of competition among the financial firms.

The financial authorities will interfere with the financial market only in unavoidable cases, such as helping the poor in very transparent ways. He also said the financial authorities will take measures to intensify the competition among the financial institutions in such areas as Internet banking and the transfer of bank accounts so that they can function well, along with measures for the liberal pricing.

The FSC chairman said the financial check-up team in action since April will also expand to the financial consumers from the financial firms.

Yim said the most difficult thing in financial reform measures is that they should be well managed to avoid conflicts of interests among the different financial sectors and FSC will hold a public hearing session for those with interests in financial reform to hear various opinions.

Yim also said the home mortgage loans have not increased much in August from the preceding month, and he will let the FSC team check on the measures taken for the home mortgage loans after they are issued to minimize any troubles they might come across including defaults.

On Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Co., the FSC chairman said the Korea Development Bank, a major lender of loans to the financially troubled company, will check on the company’s financials and operations to find out what went wrong with the company and come up with the measures to normalize the shipbuilder’s operation.