Yim Jong-yong, nominee for the Financial Services Commission chairman, said that the disputed merger of Hana Bank and Korea Exchange Bank should be based on a mutual management-labor agreement.

He effectively took a step back from his predecessor Shin Je-yoon, who earlier suggested that the merger could proceed even without the consent of the KEB labor union.

“(The merger of the two banks) should first go through a mutual agreement between management and labor,” Lim said Friday in a written statement submitted to the parliamentary state affairs committee.

“If an early integration is needed for the sake of KEB’s long-term development and competitiveness, the management and labor should face each other in an open-minded manner and seek for a rational solution.”

The FSC had said earlier that it would review whether to give a preliminary approval for the integration, which hastened the prolonged talks, but this was halted as the court issued an injunction to suspend the process until June.

The new FSC chief-in-waiting also stressed the importance of deregulation and fintech security.

“Regulations are needed as they are directly connected to the stability of the financial system,” Yim said.

“But regulations that exceed the international standards or those that are outdated should swiftly be overhauled.”

Fintech, referring to the integration of information technology in the financial sector, will offer a new momentum to the industry but should at all times be based on security measures, he added.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)