[Edaily Reporter PARK MIN ] NH INVESTMENT & SECURITIES(005940)announced on the 5th that it co-hosted a policy seminar titled “The Path Forward for the Financial Industry in the Age of AI (Artificial Intelligence): Innovation, Trust, and Financial Consumer Protection” with the Korean Economic Research Association in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 4th.

In an era where AI agents are taking over financial decision-making and execution, this event was organized to bring together academia, regulatory authorities, and industry representatives to discuss the foundation of trust and policy directions for AI-driven finance.

Professor Lee Jong-seop of Seoul National University’s School of Business, who delivered the first presentation, emphasized, “Under current law, there is no designated entity to take responsibility if an accident occurs due to a proposal generated by AI.”

Professor Lee identified the “accountability gap”—where responsibility is lost as decisions pass through multiple AI systems—as the greatest risk in an era where AI agents make decisions and take action on our behalf. He stressed that the focus of AI finance regulation must shift from “access blocking” to “attribution of responsibility.”

Professor Lee identified structural issues—such as one-size-fits-all network segregation regulations, legacy systems, short-term performance-driven investment, and organizational rigidity—as the causes of South Korea’s lackluster competitiveness in AI finance, rather than a lack of AI technology. He pointed out that current regulations only control “data access,” while the “data combination” and “tracking” stages—where risks actually arise—remain blind spots.

As policy alternatives, he proposed: △ an Agent AI registration system (mandating ownership, authorization, and audit logs); △ proportional data access starting with institutions whose control capabilities have been verified; △ macro-level supervision covering the entire market (synchronization and joint stress tests); and △ the full implementation of open banking to return data to individuals as personal assets.

Jeong Hee-soo, Director of the Hana Financial Research Institute, who served as the second presenter, noted that financial product purchasing patterns are rapidly shifting from a platform- and app-centric approach to AI-based comparison and search methods.

He pointed out that compliance risks—which are directly linked to financial incidents caused by errors—are emerging alongside model, data, and security risks. He proposed the following policy tasks: clarifying the legal status and scope of liability for AI platforms; differentiating AI adoption criteria based on risks specific to each business area; and revising the Financial Consumer Protection Act to reflect AI risks.

Kim Bong-jun, Senior Investigator at the Financial Supervisory Service, emphasized the urgent need for social and institutional discussions regarding the permissible scope of autonomy for AI agents. Baek Yeon-ju, a research fellow at the Korea Financial Research Institute, warned of the risk that Big Tech companies, leveraging vertical AI, could encroach on the financial sector as customer touchpoints shift to AI platforms outside financial institutions.

From a standardization perspective, Professor Yoon Young-jin of Sangmyung University and Senior Researcher Choi Jeong-woon of the Korea Chemical Convergence Testing Institute each raised the need for the international standardization of the Financial Services Commission’s guidelines and the expansion of consumer protection in ISO JWG 7 discussions, respectively.

Shin Jae-wook, CEO of NH INVESTMENT & SECURITIES, stated, “It was a meaningful event where a broad discussion took place on how AI-based decision-making and financial consumer protection can go hand in hand.”