Korea Branch Compliance Officer - Insurance flashcards

31 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

FSC role in insurance supervision

The Financial Services Commission sets insurance policy, grants licences to insurers and branches, and issues regulations; the FSS conducts examinations and enforcement under its direction.

K-ICS solvency ratio

Korea's risk-based capital standard for insurers, aligned with IFRS 17, requiring available capital to cover prescribed risk amounts; insurers must maintain and report the ratio to the FSS.

Branch licensing documents

A foreign insurer seeking a Korean branch licence submits the parent's articles, home-country licence certification, capital or deposit evidence, and business plan to the FSC.

Suitability duty

Under the Financial Consumer Protection Act, sellers of designated products must collect income, assets, and investment purpose, assess suitability, and document the result before recommending.

Explanation duty

Sellers must deliver key product documents and obtain written confirmation that the consumer understood material risks and terms; confirmations must be retained as evidence.

Cooling-off right

A statutory withdrawal right letting consumers cancel eligible insurance contracts within a set period after signing; the branch must disclose it and process withdrawals without penalty.

Improper solicitation

Sales conduct such as repeated unsolicited contact, pressure tactics, or contact outside permitted hours; consent and contact records must be kept to evidence compliance.

Customer due diligence trigger

CDD is required at onboarding and on trigger events such as unusual transactions, doubts about prior data, or changes in beneficial ownership; enhanced checks apply to high-risk cases.

Suspicious transaction report

A report filed with the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit when the branch suspects money laundering or terrorist financing; tipping off the customer about the report is prohibited.

Sanctions screening scope

Screening covers customers, beneficial owners, payees, and reinsurance counterparties against UN, Korean, and applicable home-country lists at onboarding and on list updates.

AML record retention

CDD records, transaction records, and STR copies must be kept for the statutory period, generally five years after the transaction or account closure, and produced on request.

Compliance officer independence

The compliance officer must sit outside business lines, report to senior management or the board, and have authority to escalate material breaches without being overruled silently.

Three lines of defence

Business units own and manage risk; compliance and risk functions monitor and advise; internal audit provides independent assurance to the board or branch management.

Compliance risk definition

The risk of legal or regulatory sanctions, financial loss, or reputational damage arising from failure to comply with laws, regulations, and internal policies.

Issue remediation tracking

Monitoring findings must be logged with an owner, deadline, and evidence of closure; open issues are reported to senior management until resolved.

Branch manager accountability

The branch manager is the local representative legally responsible for the branch's compliance with Korean law, even where the parent sets group-wide policies.

Material outsourcing approval

Outsourcing critical functions such as IT or claims processing requires prior risk assessment, a written agreement, oversight, and notification or approval where the FSS prescribes.

Operational risk register

A log of process, people, system, and external-event risks with owners, controls, and ratings; incidents are recorded and reviewed to identify control failures.

Business continuity testing

Continuity and disaster recovery plans must set recovery objectives for critical systems and be tested periodically, with results documented for supervisory review.

PIPA consent standard

Collection and use of personal data require informed, specific consent, separately obtained for sensitive data such as health or financial information used in underwriting.

Cross-border data transfer

Transferring personal data abroad requires a legal basis such as consent, contract necessity, or adequacy; the transfer details must be disclosed to the data subject.

Privacy officer duty

The branch must appoint a privacy officer, keep a personal data processing register, and conduct impact assessments for high-risk processing activities.

Breach notification timeline

Personal data breaches must be notified to affected data subjects and the Personal Information Protection Commission within the timelines set by PIPA and sector rules.

Supervisory college

A forum where the FSS and home-country supervisors of a foreign branch share information on the branch and parent, supported by memoranda of understanding.

Parent change notification

The branch must notify the FSS of material parent events, including ownership changes, licence status changes, and supervisory actions in the home country.

Dual supervisory obligations

Consolidated home-country supervision does not replace Korean requirements; the branch must satisfy both sets of rules and reconcile overlaps in reporting.

Regulatory filing log

A calendar and record of all regulatory submissions with dates, content, and evidence of receipt, used to track deadlines and respond to regulator queries.

Personal trading pre-clearance

Staff must obtain approval before trading securities that could conflict with the branch's duties; trades are monitored and breaches investigated under the conflicts policy.

Gifts and entertainment policy

A written policy sets thresholds for accepting or giving benefits; anything that could improperly influence a business decision is prohibited and must be reported.

Whistleblowing protection

The branch must maintain an independent reporting channel, protect reporters from retaliation, and log and investigate reports with documented outcomes.

Confidentiality after employment

Duties to protect client and supervisory information continue after staff leave; disclosure is permitted only where required by law or with proper consent.