On Sunday, May 13 South Korea’s financial regulator the Financial Services Commission (FSC) joined the ongoing probe into local cryptocurrency exchanges.
The FSC will now be taking part in the anti money laundering (AML) investigation, hitherto led by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), in order to help expand its scope.
Kim Yong-beom, Vice Chairman of the FSC has urged regulators worldwide to coordinate their regulatory policies on cryptocurrencies.
After a request from the FSS, the FSC will now check bank accounts belonging to Korean crypto exchanges on compliance with AML standards and other fraud prevention measures. According to Korea Times’ report, the main subject of the expanded audit would be Bithumb, the country’s largest crypto exchange.
Kim Yong-beom has said that despite the investigation into crypto exchanges, the FSC does not oppose the use of blockchain in banking and financial services and is currently evaluating the usefulness of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment.
He has further noted the need to communicate a coordinated global approach to regulatory policies on crypto, arguing that «international discussion» is «necessary».
On May 6, Yoon Suk-heun, the newly appointed FSS governor took a favourable stance towards crypto, claiming that the agency is responsible for providing «remedies to help crypto trading and blockchain technology get better».
