"Over 1 Trillion Won Annually Reported by BOK for Overseas Transfers... BOK Must Conduct Proactive Inspections"

Non-resident Foreign Currency Remittances Total 5.6 Trillion Won Over 5 Years
Hong Seong-guk "Bank of Korea Also Needs Self-Inspection Amid Foreign Currency Remittance Controversy"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jung] As the amount of suspicious foreign currency remittances detected in commercial banks has surged to 10.1 trillion won, concerns have been raised that foreign currency remittances reported through the Bank of Korea's foreign payment instruments sales should also be scrutinized.

According to data submitted by the Bank of Korea to Hong Sung-guk, a member of the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea (Sejong City Gap), the reported amount of foreign payment instruments sales reached 4.92 billion dollars over the past five years. When converted to Korean won using the average exchange rate of the respective years, this amounts to approximately 5.6546 trillion won.

Under the current Foreign Exchange Transaction Business Handling Guidelines, when remitting 10,000 dollars or more to a non-resident overseas from within Korea, one must report the transaction to the Bank of Korea through a 'foreign payment instruments sales report' and obtain a report certificate.

To file a foreign payment instruments sales report, about ten types of documents?including a payment reason statement, tax payment certificate, credit information inquiry, and proof of funds?must be submitted to the Bank of Korea. After this process, once the Bank of Korea issues the report certificate, commercial banks proceed with the remittance based on this trust.

Assemblyman Hong pointed out the need to also review the foreign currency remittance procedures conducted through these foreign payment instruments sales reports. He stated, "Recently, many cases have been detected where banks executed foreign currency remittances without properly verifying false supporting documents, so the Bank of Korea is no exception," adding, "Since these regulations deal with the overseas transfer of domestic assets by foreigners or non-residents, it is even more necessary to examine them meticulously."

However, under current law, the Bank of Korea is not included among institutions subject to inspections by the Financial Supervisory Service, so internal audits are suggested as an alternative. If signs of improper report acceptance are detected, the scope could be expanded to audits by the Board of Audit and Inspection.

Assemblyman Hong said, "Since assets exceeding 1 trillion won annually are being transferred overseas under the Bank of Korea's reporting, it is necessary to check whether there are any deficiencies in the reporting procedures," and urged, "In a situation where public concern is high due to suspicious foreign currency remittance controversies, the Bank of Korea, as the foreign exchange authority, should take proactive measures."

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