일반지주회사의 금융사 지분 소유제한에 대한 일고

A Critical Consideration on the Restriction on Shares of Financial Company by General Holding Company

The restriction on holding shares of financial company for a general holding company is included in the regulations on separation of finance and commerce under the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act in order to restrain intensive economic power. For the purpose of restraining intensive economic power as well as promoting simplification and corporate restructuring of conglomerate’s governance structure, the related discussion on easing the regulation for establishing holding company and promoting conversion has been continued. The regulation on separation of finance and commerce is necessary, when finance and commerce is combined yielding a conglomerate take control of the capital, to prevent financial capital from being privatized and damaging the publicness of financial capital, and pulling down the stability of financial capital by insolvency of both industrial and financial capital. It is a core principle that the financial sector plays a role as an activator of fund brokerage and a promoter of innovation. However, the regulations have been applied differently to banking and non-banking industry while recently ‘group-wide supervision’ is being prepared as one of the measures to secure the safety of financial system. It is expected that regular eligibility evaluation for major shareholders and regulations for asset management would be more likely and exquisitely utilized rather than an advance ban on holding taking shares for the industry of insurance and financial investment. It then might be an option to apply the same standards to the issue of regulation on general holding company to take shares of financial entity under the frame work of comprehensive supervision for financial conglomerates. Surely the regulation on general holding company to take shares of financial entity shall take not only the principle of separation of industrial and financial capital but also restraining intensive economic power into consideration. In other words, a general holding company’s taking shares of financial company shall be also evaluated for what degree of the related governance is ranging and yielding any additional risk and harmful effect is being created by the intensive economic power.