[2021 National Audit] Ko Seung-beom "Real-name Account Screening for Coin Exchanges... Banking Duty, Not Financial Services Commission's Domain"

Financial Services Commission Chairman Ko Seung-beom attended the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee's audit of the Financial Services Commission held at the National Assembly on the 6th and is reporting on the work./Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Ji-hwan] On the 6th, Go Seung-beom, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, stated that the real-name account screening related to virtual assets (cryptocurrency) money laundering is basically conducted by banks, not by financial authorities.

At the Financial Services Commission's audit held by the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee on the same day, Go responded to Lee Jung-moon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, who pointed out, "The reason virtual asset exchanges have not been able to cross the hurdle of issuing real-name accounts is because the financial authorities have shifted the anti-money laundering obligations to banks," adding, "Some in the legal community view this as negligence of duty by the financial authorities."

Go said, "Regarding money laundering, the screening is done by banks. Exchanges that only allow trading of 25 coin markets can conduct won transactions anytime if they secure real-name accounts by meeting the requirements," adding, "This issue is not something the Financial Services Commission can decide independently."

Lee criticized, "Since the financial authorities do not provide clear guidelines and say they will hold banks responsible if money laundering incidents occur, banks inevitably become passive in issuing accounts."

In response, Chairman Go drew a line, saying it is an international standard that the financial authorities cannot change unilaterally. He added, "It is based on international standards and cannot be changed," and "We will consult with the National Assembly on how companies that only allow coin market trading should proceed in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.