일본의 금융지주회사제도의 현황

The financial holding company is a company that manages financial business through possessing stocks or dominates more than one financial organization by controlling a company closely related to financial business. It is authorized by the financial commission. Under the current regulatory laws, the forms of financial holding companies are banking holding companies, insurance holding companies and financial investment holding companies. The financial holding company has more merits than financial diversification operated by subsidiary company system in a systematic aspect for information sharing, the subsidiary company control system, organization structure, financing and management. However, it has several problems in terms of governance structure and in particular; regulations on major stockholders that becomes a parent company of a bank are significantly considered. This paper examines and compares Japanese financial holding company system that is operated in the similar legal environment to Korean counterpart and aims at finding out Korea’s better legal system for the financial sector. Korea placed a restriction on establishment of holding companies to prevent the convergence of excessive economic power to some companies. However, in 1999, by revising “a Law on Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade”(Competition Law), the establishment of holding companies was approved. Since 2000 when “Financial Holding Company Law” was revised, establishment of holding companies has increased in financial areas. In Japan’s case, since 1945, the establishment of holding companies was been prohibited in the fear that minority capital would control industrial monopoly. However, in 1992, issues on the necessity for reforming the financial system were raised and in 1997, monopoly prohibition law was revised to ease off regulation of the financial system and the establishment of pure holding companies was approved. The establishment of a holding company that pursues the excessive business governance power is still prohibited. And the 2002 revision prohibits the establishment of the holding company of general business groups like pure holding companies if the business governance power is excessively converged. In the past, companies that operate financial businesses (banking, trust, insurance, and stock) were not allowed to acquire or possess more than a certain percentage(5% or 10%) of stocks of other domestic companies. But the law revised in 2002 regulated only banking and insurance companies. Also, the monopoly prohibition law is applied to banking holding companies and insurance holding companies as well as banking and insurance laws. In addition, management guides on banking and insurance holding companies were legislated and it is urged that the management team of financial holding companies acquire the financial health of the company by the autonomous inspection manual for the systematic instruction.