Debtor’s Family Free from Repayment Pressure

Financial companies are no longer allowed to notify a debtor’s family or workplace of the debtor’s liability in order to recover the loan.

Also, all loan companies and individual lenders must register with the local government authority, regardless of the size of their business.

The Financial Supervisory Service stated on April 27 that a revised bill of the loan business law concerning the loan business registration and protection of financial users was passed in the Finance and Economy Committee of the National Assembly on April 26.

If it is passed in the plenary session of the National Assembly on May 2, the bill will come into effect starting May 8.

The revised bill will implement a 20 million-won penalty if lenders contact a third party other than the debtor during their pursuit in recovering the loan. However, cases in which the debtor is missing or impossible to reach are excluded.

This bill is applied not only to loan companies but also to all financial companies, including banks and credit card companies.

Ki-Jeong Ko koh@donga.com