South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) has agreed a staged roadmap to allow corporate entities to transact in virtual assets, reversing a long-standing practical prohibition driven by anti-money laundering and market overheating concerns. The FSC’s virtual asset committee also discussed strengthening industry best practices for listing virtual assets to curb post-listing volatility and “exclusive listing” competition among exchanges, and reviewed progress on regulatory reform to enable security token offerings (STO). Under the roadmap, real-name verified accounts for corporate entities will first be permitted in the first half of the year only for selling virtual assets to convert them into cash, with law enforcement agencies already able to open such accounts. In the second quarter, access will extend to certain transparent non-profits and designated donation-accepting organisations and supervised universities, supported by a taskforce to help prepare minimum internal controls, while exchanges will be able to liquidate fee income received in virtual assets subject to industry guidelines intended to manage conflicts of interest. A second-half pilot will allow around 3,500 qualified professional investor corporations (including listed and registered corporations under the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act) to open accounts for investment and financial purposes, excluding financial companies; accompanying safeguards include transaction guidelines to strengthen banks’ checks on transaction purpose and source of funds, promote third-party custody and management services at exchanges, and expand investor disclosures, with account issuance left to banks’ and exchanges’ screening. Direct participation by financial companies is deferred, with the committee instead pointing to STO legislation as the route to support token issuance and broader blockchain investment, while access for ordinary corporations will be reconsidered after the pilot and completion of further virtual asset legislation and related foreign exchange and taxation reforms. Next steps include the FSC establishing a taskforce with the Financial Supervisory Service, Korea Federation of Banks and the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance to develop internal control standards for corporate participation and guidelines for virtual asset sales and transactions.
South Korea Financial Services Commission 2025-02-13
South Korea Financial Services Commission sets phased roadmap to allow corporate virtual asset transactions and tighten token listing practices
The South Korea Financial Services Commission (FSC) has approved a phased roadmap allowing corporate entities to transact in virtual assets, reversing a previous prohibition. It includes real-name verified accounts for corporate entities to sell virtual assets and a pilot for professional investor corporations to open accounts for investment. The FSC will establish a taskforce to develop internal control standards and guidelines for virtual asset transactions.