Hike in penalties against financial firms approved

South Korea's Cabinet on Tuesday approved raising fines that can be slapped against financial firms over violations in public disclosures, state regulators said.

Under the tougher rules, fines will be raised by about two to three times their current levels from Oct. 19 if financial firms violate relevant laws on public disclosures or obstruct probes by financial authorities, the Finance Services Commission said in a statement.

Along with the tougher regulation, the Cabinet approved nine other revisions related to the financial sector. 

Among the changes, financial firms will be required to tape-record conversations from next year when they sell equity-linked securities to people in their 70s and beyond.

The move is aimed at deterring aggressive selling of risky financial products to older people, the FSC said.

Financial firms will face a fine of 50 million won ($43,975) unless they tape-record such conversations, it said. (Yonhap)