Korean, Japanese financial regulators to collaborate on market volatility

The heads of the Korean and Japanese financial regulators have agreed to boost their cooperation to deal with growing uncertainties in the global financial marke

Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Kim Byoung-hwan, left, and Ito Hideki, commissioner of Japan's Financial Services Agency, pose for a photo during their meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

The heads of the Korean and Japanese financial regulators have agreed to boost their cooperation to deal with growing uncertainties in the global financial market, Seoul's Financial Services Commission (FSC) said Wednesday.

FSC Chairman Kim Byoung-hwan and Ito Hideki, commissioner of Japan's Financial Services Agency, inked the agreement at a meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.

The two “agreed on the need to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries to effectively deal with the volatility in the global financial market,” the FSC said in a news release.

“They noted there exists the strong possibility of the volatility in the global financial market further expanding in the future since the monetary policies and economic conditions of major economies, including the United States, the European Union and Japan, stand at an inflection point while many other factors that can affect the global economy, such as the U.S. presidential election, lie ahead,” it added.

Kim and Ito also shared the view that cooperation between the countries can play an “important role” in dealing with market volatility in a timely manner and agreed to hold detailed discussions on ways to promote close cooperation in the future, according to the FSC.

The two also exchanged views on ways to develop their countries' respective financial markets as Seoul is pushing for a corporate value-up program while Tokyo seeks to promote Japan as a leading asset management center.

Kim's visit to Japan follows the seventh round of South Korea-Japan shuttle meetings held in Seoul in December.

The heads of the financial regulators agreed to hold the eighth round in Tokyo before the year's end.

Kim also visited three Japanese firms that have disclosed their corporate value-up efforts — Concordia Financial Group, Inpex and SoftBank — to discuss ways to encourage Korean companies to follow suit, according to the FSC.

He also met with officials from branch offices of nine Korean financial firms in Japan before returning home.

BY PARK EUN-JEE, YONHAP [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]