Financial Services Commission to Establish 'Virtual Assets Division' by June and Request Organizational Restructuring After Personnel Changes

Will Virtual Asset Holding Ban Guidelines Be Adjusted?

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) will complete the appointment of the head of the newly established 'Virtual Assets Division' by the end of this month.

According to the financial investment industry on the 5th, the FSC plans to establish the Virtual Assets Division under the Financial Innovation Planning Team by the end of June at the latest and finalize the appointment of the division head. To this end, it has requested the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to reorganize and establish the new division.

An FSC official explained, "Until now, policies related to virtual assets were handled by the Financial Innovation Division, and the newly established Virtual Assets Division will also be created within the Financial Innovation Planning Team."

The FSC established the 'Virtual Assets Division' to exclusively handle the 'Virtual Asset User Protection Act' (Virtual Asset Act), which will take effect on July 19. This legislation serves as a minimum regulatory framework to protect virtual asset users, and a second-phase bill containing substantial regulations on the virtual asset market is expected to be actively pursued.

To this end, the FSC is reportedly conducting related training for personnel involved in virtual asset investigations. The head of the division and staff have not yet been finalized.

Attention is also focused on whether the prohibition on holding virtual assets by affiliated public officials will be adjusted along with the establishment of the Virtual Assets Division. Previously, on the 29th of last month, the FSC implemented the 'Guidelines on Restrictions for FSC Public Officials Holding Virtual Assets.'

The guidelines stipulate that public officials in positions or departments subject to virtual asset holding restrictions are prohibited from holding virtual assets, and violations may result in disciplinary actions. Additionally, if virtual assets are acquired through inheritance or gifts, they must be reported within 10 days and sold within one month.

These guidelines apply not only to the Financial Innovation Division and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), which have been handling virtual asset tasks, but also to all departments of the Capital Market Bureau and the banking sector of the Financial Industry Bureau.

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