Global anti-money laundering body briefed on Korea's obligations on cryptocurrency

The Korean financial regulator informed a global organization against money laundering of its obligations related to cryptocurrency transactions to combat money laundering, officials said on Monday.

The Korean anti-money laundering guidelines for the cryptocurrency trade were the first to be drafted by the members of the Financial Action Task Force, the Financial Services Commission said in a statement.

At its regular meeting of 37 members in Paris last week, member states also urged the world body to improve its understanding of money laundering risks related to cryptocurrencies, the commission said.

Korea, home to one of the largest exchanges of bitcoins in the world, has banned the anonymous cryptocurrency trade and requires financial companies to adequately audit their clients.

Under these obligations, Korean financial companies are required to closely monitor financial transactions and to exercise greater vigilance if a virtual currency exchange is suspected of using employee accounts for financial transactions related to the virtual currency. .

Contrary to the government's previous stance to stop local virtual currency trading, the Korean financial regulator said last week that it would support "normal transactions" in cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ethereum have quickly gained popularity among Korean investors with the hope of making a quick comeback.

Despite a boom in cryptocurrency transactions, exchanges are not heavily regulated in Korea, as they are not recognized as financial products because the country does not have rules to protect investors in virtual currencies (Yonhap). .