Insurers, brokerages likely to be allowed to enter banking business

• Published date: 26 February 2023
• Publication title: The Korea Times

Insurers and brokerages are likely to be allowed to enter the banking sector to promote competition as financial authorities mull over measures to break the current oligopoly in the banking industry.

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) recently formed a taskforce with key financial associations and scholars to bring changes to banking management and practices in the country to facilitate competition in the fragmented banking functions of savings, loans and payments.

"In order to bring real competition to the areas of savings and loans, players from other financial sectors, including insurers, brokerages and savings banks, are encouraged to join," FSC Vice Chairman Kim So-young said during the first meeting of the taskforce last Wednesday.

Financial regulators view that it would be more realistic to invite major players of other financial sectors, such as insurers and securities firms, into the banking business to promote competition, as the entries of entirely new players in the banking industry will take too much time for them to grow to be able to compete with established players.

This is what the FSC and the FSS had in...