FSS hosts IR event in London to attract investment

Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Lee Bok-hyun hosted an investor relations (IR) event in Europe to promote Korean finance and attract investment, highlighting Korea's financial industry's strengths.

Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Lee Bok-hyun gives an address at the investor relations event held to promote Korea’s finance in London on Wednesday. [FSS]

Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Gov. Lee Bok-hyun hosted an investor relations (IR) event in Europe this week in a bid to promote Korean finance and to attract investment in the market, said the FSS on Thursday.

The chief financial regulator visited Switzerland, Britain and Germany during his trip from Sunday through Friday.

It was the first IR event co-hosted by Seoul and Busan city governments as well as financial firms, including Shinhan Financial Group, Woori Financial Group and NH Investment & Securities, to “support the globalization of K-Finance,” said the FSS.

The organizers highlighted the strengths of Korea’s finance industry — credibility, innovation, openness — and their efforts to improve the investment environment for foreign investors and foreign investment companies operating in Korea. Seoul and Busan were also promoted as the center of finance.

Some 230 attendees of the event held at the Royal Lancaster London Hotel on Wednesday included CEOs and officials from global investment companies, including Blackstone and BlackRock.

“Korea’s financial industry has shown its resiliency in both credit ratings and financial health,” said Lee in his opening address.

“We have a safe and sound financial industry with good capital adequacy ratios and asset quality. Furthermore, Korea has an impressive track record of overcoming crises and quickly rebounding afterward.”

Lee also mentioned the rapid digitization of Korean financial companies, noting that noncontact transactions account for around 70 to 80 percent of all financial transactions.

Providing certain tax exemptions for foreign investment in Korea Treasury bonds, and modifying the dividend distribution procedure to allow investors to estimate the amount in dividends before making investment decisions were mentioned as some of the efforts made by financial regulators to make investing in the Korean market more convenient.

This was the second IR event Lee attended following his visit to Singapore in May.

Lee also attended a banking supervision meeting hosted by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in Basel, Switzerland, on Monday, where early recognition of weaknesses in banking and solid regulatory systems were agreed to be important.

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]