Korean Regulators Want to Police All Int’l KRW Trading Crypto Exchanges

All crypto exchanges must apply for trading permits if they are targeting South Korean investors – no matter where in the world they are based, according to Eun Sang-soo, the head of the South Korean Financial Services Commission (FSC), the top regulator for the financial and crypto industries.

As previously reported, the FSC and the South Korean government have developed a long list of compliance measures and an application system for all domestic crypto exchanges – and it is unclear if any of the 60 or so trading platforms will be able to meet these criteria before a September 24 deadline.

But it appears that Eun wants to extend the FSC’s reach beyond South Korean territory. He appeared before the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee today, where an MP and committee member asked:

“Are exchanges located overseas like Binance also subject to the [new regulations]?”

Eun replied that this indeed would be the case if a platform offered fiat won services to South Korea-based customers (Binance.com does not offer KRW pairs). He followed up by stating that he intended to brief the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), the FSC agency that will be charged with policing the new regulations, on the matter.

He also said that he would be contacting “overseas exchanges that provide Korean-language services” to explain their obligations – and demand explanations.

Yonhap quoted the FSC chief as stating:

“I will send [overseas exchanges] a notice asking them to explain their intentions, and explain whether their Korean-language services are a simple service or a business [that directly targets South Korean customers].”

Eun also hinted that further crypto-related legislation was already in the pipelines, although he added that the government wanted to take its time with its next move.

Yonhap added that Eun said any new cryptoasset-related bill “should be made by discussing and collecting opinions” from government organs, rather than “rushing into” anything.

He explained:

“The bill being proposed this time does not fall entirely under the jurisdiction of the FSC. The Ministry of Science and ICT is also involved and the Prime Minister’s Office is reviewing it, too.”

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