Woori Bank was caught the most in the banking sector for violating laws banning the creation of individual or corporate accounts using false names potentially for illicit transactions.
Data by the Financial Supervisory Service presented to the National Policy Committee of the National Assembly on Sunday showed that Woori Bank broke the so-called Real Name Financial Transactions Law 72 times over the last three years.
Kookmin Bank and SC Bank, both of which violated 31 times, and Shinhan Bank’s 29 violations followed, Woori Bank.
Hanwha Investment & Securities broke the law the most at 21 times in the brokerage sector, compared with one to four times on average by the rest of the securities players between 2010 and 2012.
Financial authorities vowed to toughen its penalty and disciplinary measures against financial companies violating the real name law.
The FSS has been criticized for its softened regulatory enforcement over those violators despite an increasing number of financial companies breaking the real name law.
More than 60 percent of 278 cases involving financial irregularities since last year including stock price manipulation were found to have been related to the violation of the real name law.
The law was devised during the former Kim Yong-sam administration aimed at rooting out illegal slush fund transactions via accounts under borrowed or false names.
By Park Hyong-ki (
hkp@heraldcorp.com)
