(image: Korea Bizwire/Kobiz Media)
SEOUL, Sept. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s financial regulator said Wednesday it will ease some rules on financial firms investing in fintech firms, as part of its effort to promote the fintech industry.
The new guideline, unveiled by the Financial Services Commission (FSC), will expand the scope of fintech firms for which financial firms’ investment is encouraged or approved.
So far, financial firms have been allowed to invest their money into fintech firms that have close ties with their businesses.
The deregulatory move is expected to allow financial firms to invest their money into a wide range of fintech firms, according to the FSC.
The FSC will also shorten its review process for financial firms’ investment into fintech firms.
South Korea has stepped up efforts to ease regulations and cut red tape to boost the fintech industry. Since last year, fintech firms have been able to develop services without regulatory hurdles.
Under a so-called regulatory sandbox, fintech firms using new technologies, such as blockchain and big data, are exempted from tight regulations.
(Yonhap)
