The Korea Customs Service in 2022 uncovered a total of 15 cases of
illegal foreign exchange transactions purposed for virtual asset speculation.
These transactions were worth 5.6 trillion won (approximately $4.3 billion),
local media Yonhap News Agency reported on Tuesday.
The cases are part of overall cases of trade and economy crimes traced
by the custom service last year. Overall, illegal transactions flagged by the
service shot up by more than half from prior year to 8.2 trillion won ($6.2
billion).
Finance Magnates reported in July last year that South Korean watchdogs
opened inquiries into ‘abnormal’ forex transactions worth $3.1 billion linked to crypto
investments suspected of money laundering. The transactions were done at Woori
Bank and Shinhan Bank, two of the biggest commercial banks in the
country.
South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service, a regulator under the
Financial Services Commission (FSC), reported that moves like these made since February 2021 up
until July last year were worth 4.1 trillion won ($3.1 billion). The transactions involved crypto exchanges and a domestic
trading company, the watchdog said.
Despite its small size, South Korea is one of the leading retail crypto
markets globally as cryptocurrency penetration in the country is very
high. However, since 2017, the country under its Foreign Exchange
Transactions Act started requiring firms engaged in crypto transactions to get
regulatory sanctioning from the FSC.
In August last year, South Korea cracked down on 16 overseas
cryptocurrency exchanges operating in the country illegally. The
platforms include big brands such as KuCoin and MEXC.
On the other hand, the Asian country also recently started revising decades-old forex transaction
rules under its Foreign Exchange Transactions Act. The revision follows
public outcry against the limits of the set of policy. As part of the move, the
country approved nine securities firms to engage in the business of
currency exchange, serving both corporate and individual customers.
Furthermore, the country is also making plans to open up its forex markets to offshore firms as
well as extend their opening hours to 2am. Finance Magnates report that these changes are to
be implemented during the second half of 2024.
The Korea Customs Service in 2022 uncovered a total of 15 cases of
illegal foreign exchange transactions purposed for virtual asset speculation.
These transactions were worth 5.6 trillion won…
