The Financial Services Commission is a government agency with the statutory authority over financial policy and regulatory supervision. The FSC’s functional responsibilities are shared among the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and subordinate bureaus.

Korea’s financial supervisory structure underwent major changes following the Asian financial crisis in 1997. To ensure effective and efficient supervision of all financial sectors, the Financial Supervisory Commission was established in April 2008 as an integrated supervisory agency with consolidating financial supervisory authorities across all financial sectors.

The Financial Supervisory Commission was reorganized into the current Financial Services Commission (FSC) on February 29, 2008 with the integration of the Financial Policy Bureau of the former Ministry of Finance and Economy. The FSC thus has the statutory authority to draft and amend financial laws and regulations and issue regulatory licenses to financial institutions.

In addition, the FSC oversees cross-border matters such as supervising foreign exchange transactions conducted by financial institutions to ensure their financial soundness. Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU), which was also integrated into the FSC as part of the reorganization, leads the government’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financial efforts.