South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has set up a task force to take a detailed look at the status of loans linked to multi-homeowners by financial sector. The move follows President Lee Jae-myung (이재명) ordering a review of regulation on extending and refinancing loans for existing multi-homeowners earlier in the day.

The FSS said it set up the task force and held a kick-off meeting on the morning of Feb. 20 on the instruction of FSS Governor Chan-jin Lee (이찬진).

Lee said on real estate policy, "Why are you only reviewing RTI (interest repayment ratio) regulation?" He added, "Loan extensions or refinancing after the loan term expires are essentially no different from new loans."

He instructed officials to assess rules on new lending to multi-homeowners, review the status of loan extensions and refinancing by existing multi-homeowners, and examine clear regulatory steps.

The task force is headed by a deputy governor in charge of banking and secondary finance, and includes heads of departments such as the Banking Risk Supervision Department, Secondary Finance Supervision Department, Credit Finance Supervision Department and Insurance Supervision Department.

The task force will closely examine, by sector, the status of loans linked to multi-homeowners, including individuals with at least 2 homes and sole proprietors engaged in home sales and rentals.

It will identify current regulation, practices and differences among sectors, and prepare improvements based on those findings. It will also consult the Financial Services Commission and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport if needed. It was reported that the task force will meet weekly given the seriousness of the issue.