The Korea Herald, in collaboration with DR & AJU LLC, offers a summary of recent legislative activities, including proposed, pending, and promulgated bills.
Proposed Bills
Amendment to the Insurance Business Act
Rep. Cha Gyu-geun of the Rebuilding Korea Party proposed an amendment focusing on how insurance companies value their affiliate holdings. The proposed changes include:
- Mandating the use of market prices rather than acquisition costs when valuing stocks issued by insurance company affiliates.
- Capping the total value of these holdings at 3% of the company’s total assets.
Amendment to the Banking Act
Rep. Choi Eun-seok from the People Power Party has proposed a bill designed to enhance access to financial services, particularly in rural areas. Key features of this amendment are:
- Permitting non-financial institutions, such as post offices, to provide bank agency services.
- This aims to improve user convenience in underserved regions.
Pending Bills
Amendment to the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act
Another bill, proposed by Rep. Yoon Han-hong of the People Power Party, focuses on protecting shareholder interests. The key points of the amendment include:
- Clarifying the duty of directors to safeguard shareholder interests.
- Specifically, this applies to situations such as mergers, major business or asset transfers, stock swaps, splits, and split mergers.
- The board of directors must actively work to protect shareholders’ rights in these scenarios.
Promulgated Bills
Enforcement Rule of the Motor Vehicle Management Act
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is behind this bill. The primary focus is to ensure the safety of electric vehicles:
- Electric car manufacturers must now obtain government safety certification for their vehicle batteries before releasing vehicles to the market.
- This is a direct response to growing concerns about fire-related accidents involving electric cars.
Administrative Announcement
Partial Amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Electrical Construction Business Act
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy is responsible for this announcement. The amendment addresses the shortage of qualified personnel in the electrical construction industry:
- The requirements for intermediate electrical construction engineers will be relaxed.
- Individuals with specialized work experience in electrical construction, even without formal educational qualifications, will now be considered eligible.
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