FSS Relocation to Provinces? Union Demands Immediate Halt, Citing Rising Financial Costs

The labor union of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has demanded an immediate halt to any plans regarding the government's relocation of the agency to regional areas, if media reports regarding the move are true.

In a statement released today (August 17), the FSS union criticized the move, calling it a "terrible blunder that pushes the regulatory body, which must supervise finance from the frontline, backward."

The union sharply rebuked the idea, stating, "It completely ignores the voices of consumers and the financial sector, bogged down solely by the uniform goal of relocating the majority of public institutions."

Citing the fact that the vast majority of financial civil petitions (81.4%), headquarters of financial institutions (91.6%), targets for on-site inspections (88.3%), and headquarters of listed companies (72.7%) are concentrated in the capital area, the union pointed out that "physical disconnection from the financial supervision field will lead to severe financial consumer harm."

It also added, "This will create inefficiencies, forcing FSS employees to make reverse business trips back to Seoul for face-to-face meetings regarding hundreds of licenses, the acceptance of various reports, and on-site inspections of financial institutions that occur every year."

The union argued that increased regulatory costs would lead to a rise in supervisory levies for financial institutions, which would ultimately be passed on to consumers utilizing these institutions in the form of higher loan rates and fees.

In particular, the union stated, "If combined with a massive exodus of core professional talent resulting from regional relocation, regulatory capacity will sharply decline and consumer damage will spread uncontrollably," adding, "We strongly oppose the regional relocation of the FSS and urge an immediate halt to such plans."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.