Complaints tied to financial investment surged 86% in the first half of this year as a stock market rally drove up trading in equities and exchange-traded funds, compounded by a dispute over unallocated SpaceX shares in an initial public offering. Total financial complaints rose about 40% to nearly 80,000.
The Financial Supervisory Service said on the 29th that it received 78,979 financial complaints in the first half, up 39.5% from 56,633 a year earlier.
The financial investment sector posted the steepest increase. Complaints in the sector reached 9,548 in the first half, up 86.1% from 5,131 in the same period last year. Complaints against securities firms nearly doubled to 6,559 from 3,286, a 99.6% rise, driven by grievances over stock and ETF trading and requests for investigations into unfair trading.
Complaints against asset managers soared 377.1% to 1,169 from 245 in the first half of last year, largely because of the SpaceX case. Several asset managers had planned to secure SpaceX shares through Mirae Asset Securities and include them in ETFs, but the plans collapsed when the firms failed to obtain the final allocation. Complaints against Mirae Asset Securities jumped 474.3% to 804 from 140 over the same period.
Insurance drew the largest number of complaints. Insurance complaints totaled 39,963 in the first half, accounting for 51% of the total and up 42.0% from a year earlier. Complaints rose at both life and non-life insurers, centering on the calculation and payment of insurance benefits.
Complaints involving banks and small-to-midsize financial firms rose 30.5% and 22.8%, respectively, over the year. At banks, complaints related to voice phishing surged 77.8%, while those involving deposits and savings — including limits on financial transactions and the return of mistaken transfers — climbed 59.3%.
Among small-to-midsize financial firms, complaints involving credit information companies and lenders rose 32.1% and 30.3%, respectively, reflecting an increase in debt collection complaints.
The FSS said the surge was temporary, attributing it to greater consumer awareness following stronger supervision of consumer protection, and added that complaint volumes held at typical levels in July and August, pointing to a stabilizing trend.
