준법지원인 제도에 관한 법적 고찰

The Korean Commercial Code, as amended in April 2011, established a compliance control system applicable to listed companies over a certain size, and requires the appointment of a compliance officer to implement the compliance control system. In response, many companies have argued that there are currently audit functions already in place which overlap with the compliance control and compliance officer systems, and that the implementation of the new systems increases the economic burden on the relevant companies. On the other hand, academics and attorney organization have generally welcomed the new systems, insisting that they will foster corporate compliance and management transparency, which will be beneficial to these companies. Sharp conflicts between the two sides have become a big issue. In my opinion, the compliance control and the compliance officer systems will function to benefit both the relevant companies and their shareholders, because these new systems (i) have distinct functions and roles beyond existing audit systems, (ii) fill gaps commonly existing in the internal controls of companies, and (iii) facilitate the control of management via monitoring and increased transparency. In this thesis, after having reviewed outlines and the pertinent provisions of the compliance control and compliance officer systems introduced by the amended Korean Commercial Code, as well as legislation and the compliance systems in other countries, I will discuss issues and problems associated with the Korean compliance control and compliance officer systems, and also offer recommendations thereon.