Toss has entered a group supervision framework after being designated a financial conglomerate, the first among big tech companies. The move adds oversight of group-wide capital adequacy, internal transactions and risk transfer on top of sector-by-sector regulation for affiliates such as Toss Bank and Toss Securities, increasing the compliance burden as it expands its financial business.

The Financial Services Commission recently designated Toss as a financial conglomerate for 2026 at a regular meeting, financial industry officials said on Wednesday. This made Toss the first big tech financial group to come under the Financial Conglomerates Act.

The designation does not grant Toss a separate legal status. It means that as the group has grown large enough to encompass multiple financial businesses such as banking and securities, it will be subject to oversight for group-level risks that are difficult to identify through supervision of individual affiliates alone.

As of the end of last year, the Toss group’s combined domestic financial company assets stood at 41.3 trillion won, the commission said. Assets in its main business, lending and deposit-taking, totalled 33 trillion won, while assets in its non-core financial investment business were 7.2 trillion won.

A financial conglomerate covers groups that operate at least 2 of the following businesses: lending and deposit-taking, insurance, and financial investment. It applies to groups that own financial companies licensed, approved or registered by the commission and whose combined domestic financial company assets are at least 5 trillion won. Groups are excluded if assets in non-core businesses are below 5 trillion won.

Toss exceeded the 5 trillion won threshold for non-core businesses as its financial investment assets rose to 7.2 trillion won. For Naver Financial, its main business of electronic financial services is not included in the current designated categories of lending and deposit-taking, insurance and financial investment. Kakao has banking, securities and insurance affiliates, but it was not included in the latest list. Authorities did not disclose specific reasons for the exclusion, but it is presumed that Kakao did not meet the 5 trillion won threshold for non-core businesses.

From affiliate supervision to group supervision

With the designation, Toss will face additional oversight of whether weakness at one affiliate could spread to another, whether risks are concentrated in a specific company or sector, and how intra-group transactions affect the group’s soundness.

Toss must select a representative financial company by considering equity investment links and the size of assets and capital of its financial firms, and report it to the Financial Supervisory Service within 1 month of the designation date. It must establish group-level internal control and risk management standards and report and disclose its ownership and governance structure, capital adequacy, internal transactions and risk concentration.

Capital regulation will also apply at group level. The group must maintain a group capital ratio of at least 100 percent based on consolidated equity capital excluding overlapping capital among affiliates. Financial authorities can add up to 20 percent in risk add-on capital to the required consolidated capital after assessing affiliate risks, interconnections among affiliates and the level of internal controls and risk management.

Even if each affiliate meets the soundness standards for its own sector, the structure allows additional capital burdens depending on the group’s overall risk level.

Procedures for internal transactions will also be strengthened. Intra-group transactions of the smaller of an amount equivalent to 5 percent of equity capital and 5 billion won must be approved by the board. The group must review in advance how major transactions such as equity investments and loans among affiliates could affect group soundness, and report and disclose related details.

Sharp expansion of capital and internal control burdens

Financial authorities will comprehensively assess the Toss group’s internal controls and risk management system, capital adequacy, risk concentration and internal transactions, ownership structure and the possibility of risk transfer every 3 years.

The group must also submit a management improvement plan to strengthen financial soundness if its group capital ratio falls below 100 percent or if its risk management assessment result drops to grade 4 or below.

The changes also intersect with concerns about system stability and internal controls raised by recent IT incidents at Toss and major affiliates. Toss has recently seen a series of problems including duplicate withdrawals for automatic transfers within its app, an exchange-rate information error at Toss Bank and delays in overseas stock orders at Toss Securities. This has increased calls to establish consistent group-wide control standards beyond incident responses by individual affiliates.

Under the new designation, key rules covering capital adequacy assessments, internal controls and risk management, and reporting and disclosure are deferred for 6 months. This makes it a key issue how Toss checks its group capital ratio and overhauls its internal transaction and risk management systems during the grace period.

A Toss official said, "As we have been designated a financial conglomerate after meeting the requirements in line with the company’s growth, we plan to thoroughly comply with obligations and regulations under relevant laws." The official added, "We will continue responsible management that enhances stability in the financial market and places consumer protection as the top value."