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South Korean Regulator To Probe Bank Competition

By  |  February 22, 2023

This week South Korea launched a task force to study ways to improve business practices and pay schemes at banks. This is in the wake of the country’s president calling on lenders to help curb the cost-of-living burden on vulnerable people.

Vice chairman of the FSC, Kim So-young said at the panel’s inaugural meeting that it would study ways to boost competition either between existing banks or by allowing entries of niche service providers.

Related: South Korea: KFTC fines foreign banks for price fixing in FX

The panel is headed by the deputy chief of the top financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), and comprises regulators, scholars, researchers and officials from financial industry associations, the FSC said in a statement.

The panel would also look into ways to help banks diversify their business practices, currently heavily dependent on interest rate margins, and improve their pay structure, he said.