South Korea's financial authorities said on Tuesday that large specialised credit finance companies and savings banks must submit accountability structure maps by July 2 under the law on the governance structure of financial companies.

The requirement applies to specialised credit finance companies with total assets of at least 5 trillion won and savings banks with at least 700 billion won.

Banks and financial holding companies submitted their accountability structure maps by January last year, and financial investment companies and insurers did so by July last year.

The financial authorities will run a pilot period to help large specialised credit finance companies and savings banks introduce internal control management systems early.

Large specialised credit finance companies and savings banks that want to participate can submit their accountability structure maps to the Financial Supervisory Service by April 10. They can then run a pilot internal control management programme from the submission date until July 2.

Financial companies that join the pilot will receive incentives. The Financial Supervisory Service will provide consulting, including checks and advice on accountability structure maps. It plans not to hold them responsible even if internal control management obligations are not fully met during the pilot period. If they identify and correct their own employees' legal violations, sanctions will be reduced or waived.

The financial authorities said, "Through the pilot, large specialised credit finance companies and savings banks will be able to operate internal control management systems based on accountability structure maps without the burden of sanctions, helping the new system settle in a stable manner." They added, "We will continue to communicate regularly with the financial sector and keep working to strengthen internal controls in the financial sector."