Finance Panel Targets Fees

The Financial Supervisory Committee released Sunday plans to award exclusive rights for a limited period to new financial products, which will serve as a type of patent. The period is expected to be between six months to a year and will take effect from the third quarter of this year.

The committee also plans to adjust service fees charged by banks. It has asked the Korea Institute of Finance to come up with the measures. Korean banks earned 27.8 percent of their total profits from service charges last year, which is lower than the average in other countries. Service charges by banks in the United States accounted for 36.1 percent of total earnings last year.

The finance panel plans to make service charges more transparent by asking banks to post their policies with finance related organizations.