The U.S.-Korea Business Council financial services working group serves as a forum for council members interested in the financial services sector—including banking, insurance, and securities—to discuss issues in the Korean market and Korean government regulations and policies in this sector. In particular, the working group monitors regulatory developments in Korea’s financial services sector and proposes policy actions by the Korean government to create a competitive environment that enables domestic and foreign companies to operate as flexibly and profitably in Korea as in other Asian financial centers. The working group directs the Council’s program of work on financial services-related issues, and it identifies policy goals and recommendations to propose to the U.S. and Korean governments.

The Council maintains a joint financial services working group with the Korea-U.S. Business Council, which offers a venue for U.S. and Korean companies, industry organizations, and other stakeholders to discuss financial services sector-related issues in both countries, as well as global issues including the G-20 process and the Financial Stability Board. 

Recent Activities

Joint Working Group Meeting, January 21, 2011 (Dana Point, CA)

Speakers included Yi Jong-Goo, standing commissioner of Korea’s Financial Services Commission, who provided updates on recent developments in Korea’s financial services sector regulations.  Members also discussed the G-20 Summit and G-20 Business Summit in Seoul in November 2010, and recent developments in U.S. financial regulations, including the effects of the Dodd-Frank Act.

Joint Working Group Meeting, February 5, 2010 (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA)

Speakers included Chung Tong-soo, Head of InvestKorea, who provided updates on the Korean Government’s actions to enhance Korea’s investment environment, and Thomas Quaadman, Executive Director of Financial Reporting & Investor Opportunity at the U.S. Chamber’s Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness (by teleconference), who updated members on recent developments in U.S. financial regulations.

Members of the councils discussed recent developments in Korean financial services regulations, and areas in need of reform related to regulatory transparency and consistency. They agreed to form a joint council task force to explore ways to create opportunities for industry to gain more information about, and to create opportunities to provide input into the activities of the G-20 and Financial Stability Board.

Joint Working Group Meeting, November 5, 2009 (Washington, DC)

Speakers included Lee Jang-yung, Senior Deputy Governor of Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), and William Murden, Director of the U.S. Treasury’s Office of International Banking and Securities Markets.

Members of the councils identified areas for the working group to focus its attention on moving forward, including advocacy efforts in support of the U.S.-Korea FTA; providing all possible assistance to the Korean government in its role as G-20 host country in 2010; exploring ways for industry to provide input into the activities and policy discussions of the G-20 and Financial Stability Board; and addressing challenges faced by foreign companies attempting to take equity stakes in Korean financial firms.