Officials of the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service may face personnel penalties should they voice conflicting opinions over an issue.

The move reflected the two financial regulators’ effort to harmonize their opinion and minimize the confusion for financial companies.

“FSC chairman Yim Jong-yong and FSS Gov. Zhin Woong-seob agreed that the two organizations need to talk in advance before delivering their official stance to the market,” said an FSC official.

“In order to push ahead with the plan, they decided that a personnel penalty is to be applied to officials who voice different opinions in key financial affairs.”

The suggestion was made by Lim during his visit to the FSS last week and was readily accepted by his counterpart Zhin, according to the official.

Details such as the extent and range of the personnel disadvantage is undecided, the official added.

Last year, the financial industry was disturbed not only by a series of customer information leaks and leadership disputes, but also by the opinion gap between the FSC and the FSS.

It was in such awareness that the newly-appointed FSC chief Yim made his visit to the FSS, marking the first-ever visit of an incumbent FSC chief to the FSS since the two organizations were separated in 2008.

He also ordered senior FSC officials to hold regular meetings with FSS counterparts at least once a week so that the two organizations may have a common understanding on the flow of the financial market.

But some market observers also voiced their concerns, pointing out that the FSC, which has the final decision-making authority and budget controllability, may end up holding the upper hand over the FSC.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)