금융회사의 지점 폐쇄 및 금융업 폐지와 관련된 금융규제상 주요 쟁점에 관한 연구: 은행법과 여신전문금융업법을 중심으로

초록

It is highly likely that the closure of branches or finance businesses by a financial institution has a detrimental effect on the rights or interests of financial consumers. The recent decision of a bank based in Korea to shut down its retail business in phases and the increasing closure of bank branches over the recent years drew attention from the regulatory authorities and the commentators in regard to the need to reorganize the regulatory mechanism for the closure of retail branches or finance businesses by a financial institution. First, with regard to the closure of retail branches by banks, banks should pay due regard to the interests of their customers by carrying out an assessment of the impact of a proposed closure on their customers and providing effective alternatives such as sharing retail services with other banks or utilizing post office branches. It would also be important that banks communicate relevant information to their customers in a way which is clear and transparent. Second, under the Banking Act as currently in force, it was not clear whether the financial authorities are entitled to exercise its authority over the partial closure of the banking business by a bank. However, the recent amendment to the act which will take effect this September made it clear that a bank must obtain authorization from the Financial Services Commission before it implements the closure of the major part of its banking business. Lastly, unlike other legislations on finance businesses, there is no explicit provision which grants authority to the financial authorities over the closure of the finance business under the Specialized Credit Finance Business Act. However, considering the importance and the weight of the specialized credit finance businesses such as the credit card business in the financial market, the Specialized Credit Finance Business Act needs to be amended to grant explicit authority to the financial authorities over the closure of the specialized credit finance business by specialized credit finance business companies.

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