Regulator meets financial holding group leaders, emphasizes shock-cushioning capacity

SEOUL, Nov. 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's financial regulator on Monday urged local financial holding groups to beef up shock-absorbing capacity and continue to play their money-channeling roles in the face of growing market uncertainty.

"It is necessary for banks' holding groups to thoroughly review their crisis-response strategies in a way that they can faithfully carry out money-channeling functions, while maintaining their soundness on a solid footing amid serious economic and financial market conditions," Lee Bok-hyun, head of the Financial Supervisory Service, told a meeting with heads of major holding groups of local banks.

"Currently, they are keeping soundness and operating earnings results at favorable levels, but high interest rates, high currency exchange rates, and high inflation are causing economic and financial shocks to loom large, making it hard to stay complacent after next year," he added.

Lee underlined the need for them to set aside more loss reserves, intensify capital management, and establish better strategies for securing and managing funds as part of efforts to maintain sufficient levels of shock-cushioning capacity.

kokobj@yna.co.kr
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