통합금융감독기구의 변천과 향후의 개편방향

This paper first reviews the process through which the Korean financial supervisory authority, including Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) and Financial Supervisory Services (FSS), has transformed itself since the enactment of the Financial Supervisory Organization Establishment Act of 1997. Acknowledging the thesis that recurring problems in Korea’s financial markets have been at least partially due to malfunctioning of its financial supervisory system, we focus on how the FSC has strengthened its ties with the Ministry of Finance and Economy (MOFE) by enlarging the secretariat office, and hence continued to successfully maintain the so-called ‘bureaucratic suasion’ across the financial industry. It also discusses some important reform proposals suggested and related public discussions and hearings held in the meantime. Based on the above review, the paper goes on to provide some guidelines for the possible future reform of the financial supervisory authority (FSA). First, the MOFE, which is responsible for the economic policy and financial system in general, should be functionally separated from the new FSA, which is responsible for the prudential regulation and supervision of financial institutions. Second, the new FSA should be a single integrated organization responsible for both policy making and execution of financial regulation and supervision. Third, the new FSA should be organized as a public institution run by civilians that is institutionally separated from the usual government body. Finally, the new FSA should have in place some bulit-in measures for ensuring transparency and accountability.