핀테크시대 금융상품 투자권유의 적절한 규제방안: 미국법상 투자권유 규제 현황을 참고한 개선방안을 중심으로

With the development of fintech today, new channels and business models for the sale of financial products such as virtual assets exchange, crowdfunding, and Internet banks are emerging, and robo-advisors are recommending individual investors to invest financial products or managing investment accounts according to big data analytics through machine-learning artificial intelligence and computer algorithms. These fintechs have the advantage of enhancing the benefits of financial consumers, but they also raise the concerns about the massive damage to consumers, so we need to consider the adequate regulatory improvement for customer protection. In July 2023, the US SEC adopted and announced the Conflicts of Interest Associated with the Use of Predictive Data Analytics by Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers Rule in that context. We should also appropriately come up with customer protection regulatory measures for robo-advisors, which are increasingly utilized due to the development of machine learning and artificial intelligence industries. In addition, the case of the 10-year German government bond Derivatives Linked Fund in 2018, the incomplete sale of funds by Lime and Optimus Asset Managements in 2019, and the basic ELS case of Hong Kong’s H index in 2024, caused enormous property damage to Korean individual investors. The principle of suitability, appropriateness, and obligation to explain to customers did not prevent the occurrence of such incidents under the relevant regulations of the Capital Markets and Financial Investment Business Act and the Financial Consumer Protection Act. In order to prevent such catastrophies from happening again and to protect the best interests of the customers of the financial investment business entities, it is necessary to faithfully fulfill their fiduciary duty to customers under the relevant laws.