New rules for South Korean exchanges

South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC) has amended anti-money laundering guidelines for the country's cryptocurrency exchanges. The amendments proposed by the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU) should correct some shortcomings in the implementation of the regulatory principles. The revised guidance, approved by FSC on 27 June, will come into force from 10 July.

The regulator has asked cryptocurrency exchanges to conduct thorough customer checks and strengthen security measures. The revised rules require financial companies to monitor non-trading accounts to prevent them from being used for illegal purposes by employees of crypto exchanges. They may conduct Due Diligence if they discover evidence of suspicious transactions. 

The amendments also apply to the exchange of information between crypto platforms in different countries. 

The regulator has asked exchanges to conduct thorough background checks to ensure that foreign residents do not use Korean exchanges and that criminals do not use other users' personal accounts for the purpose of money laundering.

KoFIU first provided anti-money laundering guidelines on January 30. The Financial Intelligence Unit has proposed amendments to the guidance based on the results of audits that have been carried out at many banks since February 1. 

According to local media reports, the FSC also ordered authorities to investigate the activities of Hana Bank, Nonghyup and Kookmin, which provide their services to cryptocurrency exchanges.

According to rttnews.com