Kim Sang-hoon, the chairman of the Policy Committee of the People Power Party, commented on November 29th, stating that if the Capital Markets Act, as proposed by the Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung during a field meeting at the Korea Exchange, is implemented in a reasonable and targeted manner as advocated by the business community, an amendment to the Commercial Act might become unnecessary. He characterized Lee’s remarks as acknowledging the side effects and impracticality of the excessive and reckless amendment to the Commercial Act pursued by the Democratic Party.
During a party meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Kim stated that if the Democratic Party’s excessive and unreasonable amendments to the Commercial Act, as recognized by Lee, were to be realized, they would apply to both listed and unlisted companies. He emphasized that companies and the market have significant concerns and opposition to this development.
Furthermore, Kim explained that the People Power Party has focused on amending the Capital Markets Act, gathering opinions from the government and economic sectors, to protect minority general shareholders during the process of mergers and acquisitions or physical division of listed companies. He suggested that if the Democratic Party halts its push for the Commercial Act amendment and engages in open, reasonable discussions with the government and ruling party on the amendment of the Capital Markets Act, it could send a very positive signal to the market.
He added that the party and government would actively consider the strong recommendations of companies and the market and propose amendments to the Capital Markets Act aimed at protecting minority general shareholders during the merger and acquisition processes of listed companies.
Additionally, Kim commented on the Bank of Korea’s decision to lower the base interest rate from 3.25% to 3.00%, stating that the government and ruling party would take all necessary measures to address external economic uncertainties, boost domestic demand, manage household debt, stabilize prices, properly manage the interest margin between loans and deposits in the financial sector, recover construction investment, normalize the real estate market, and support self-employed and small business owners.
He emphasized that the effect of the Bank of Korea’s rate cut should be directly transmitted to households, businesses, and self-employed individuals. He mentioned that commercial banks should not raise their own loan interest rates and that the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service would monitor the interest rate conditions of commercial banks.