Cryptocurrency
South Korea’s Top Financial Regulator Suggests All Crypto Exchanges Could Be Shut Down
South Korea’s Top Financial Regulator Suggests All Crypto Exchanges Could Be Shut Down Eun Sung-soo, head of South Korea’s chief financial services regulator, said no crypto exchange had applied for its VASP license. Reported by CoinDesk.com “The head of South Korea’s financial regulatory agency has created controversy by saying all the country’s cryptocurrency exchanges could […]
South Korea’s Top Financial Regulator Suggests All Crypto Exchanges Could Be Shut Down
Eun Sung-soo, head of South Korea’s chief financial services regulator, said no crypto exchange had applied for its VASP license.
“The head of South Korea’s financial regulatory agency has created controversy by saying all the country’s cryptocurrency exchanges could be shut down in September.
During a meeting of the National Assembly’s policy committee on April 22, Eun Sung-soo, chair of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), said the agency has yet to receive any any Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) applications required under a recently amended law going into effect later this year.
“There are an estimated 200 cryptocurrency exchanges in the country,” he added. “But if the current situation continues then all of them could be shut down.”
Eun was referring to South Korea’s anti-money laundering (AML) law, the Financial Transactions Reporting Act (FTRA), which was amended last year to apply to crypto exchanges. The legislation requires VASPs to register with financial authorities.
The FSC began accepting applications for registration on March 25, but no exchanges have applied yet. Exchanges have until Sept. 24 to have their registration approved by the FSC. The FSC will only approve exchanges that can sufficiently demonstrate the robustness of their AML systems.
On April 19, the government’s policy office issued a statement that authorities will implement a “special enforcement period” from April to September to shut down any “illegitimate crypto businesses” and ensure that exchanges are abiding by the FTRA.”