SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea will allow mutual savings firms and online-based companies to sell investment funds from next February, and draw up measures to cut sales fees for long-term investors, a regulator said on Sunday.

The Financial Services Commission FSC.L said in a statement that it will also tighten investor protection rules for fund sellers to teach customers risks from an investment, as well as its commissions and fees.

"South Korea’s fund sales market has been in the oligopolistic structure, which lacked competition for services and commissions between sellers," the statement said.

Currently, only banks, securities houses and insurance companies are authorised to sell investment funds which accounted for nearly 10 percent of the country’s household financial assets in 2007.

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