금융소비자 보호의 실효적 강화방안에 관한 연구- 투자자성향평가 방식 및 설명의무의 제도개선을 중심으로 -

Despite continuous efforts to improve the financial consumer protection system following incidents such as the KIKO cases and DLF cases, the problem of mis-selling persists, which is a regrettable reality. In particular, the recent H-Index ELS cases involved a large number of general investors who purchased products through banks, with a significant proportion being elderly, making the impact of this incident even more severe. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to examine ways to enhance the effectiveness of the financial consumer protection system in order to prevent mis-selling. Specifically, it seeks to propose institutional improvement measures to prevent mis-selling at the stage where financial consumers enter into contracts, by reviewing the issues with the investor assessment, which is a key criterion for evaluating suitability, appropriateness, and the duty to explain. Moreover, to increase the effectiveness of the financial consumer protection system, it is desirable that both the regulation of financial product sellers and the improvement of consumers' financial literacy are implemented in a balanced manner. This paper examines improvement measures for both areas. Currently, the scoring method, which is the investor assessment method mainly adopted by commercial banks in Korea, has issues such as failing to properly reflect specific information important to individual investors and the inadequacy of the survey format in securing objectivity. This paper examines ways to complement the limitations of the scoring method through the utilization of the factor-out method. Additionally, to ensure the objectivity of expertise in financial product investment, it reviews the introduction of a multiple-choice evaluation for the understanding of financial investment products, and the improvement of the investment experience criteria to include factors such as loss experience. Regarding the duty to explain system, this paper reviews a proposal to integrate the provision of damage estimation under the Capital Market and Financial Services Act with the provision of shifting the burden of proof under the Financial Consumer Protection Act in order to enhance the effectiveness of financial consumer protection. Additionally, it addresses the issue of the duty to explain system becoming formalized in reality due to practices such as misleading explains or inducement, which occur because it is practically difficult to secure evidence of duty to explain being violated. To counter these limitations, this paper suggests that in addition to enhancing the regulation of business practices, emphasis should be placed on improving the capabilities of both financial consumers and sellers through education as part of the system's improvement.