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【South Korea’s Financial Services Commission: Restricting virtual-asset exchange ownership to strengthen regulatory accountability】
Lee Eok-won, Chair of South Korea’s Financial Services Commission, stated that the provision in the proposed Framework Act on Digital Assets to limit major shareholders’ ownership stakes in virtual-asset exchanges was not directed by any particular individual, but rather reflects the need for exchanges to assume greater public responsibility after institutionalization. Lee Eok-won stated during the Financial Services Commission’s parliamentary audit before the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee that South Korean virtual-asset exchanges currently operate under a filing system renewed every 3 year, but following the future implementation of the Framework Act on Digital Assets, exchanges will transition to an institutionalized operating model requiring authorization. He said that exchanges have infrastructure-like characteristics and therefore must demonstrate public interest and accountability commensurate with their status. Previously, South Korean lawmakers questioned whether the provision had been externally influenced, noting that the Financial Services Commission’s original proposal did not include a major-shareholder ownership limit, and pointed out that mandatory implementation could require major shareholders and potential acquirers of South Korean exchanges to sell shares worth several trillion Korean won. In response, Lee Eok-won said that the government is currently drafting the relevant bill and that the specific ownership-limit provisions can be further coordinated during National Assembly deliberations. He added that the design will fully reflect the views of all parties. He also said that the government’s draft of the Framework Act on Digital Assets is undergoing final coordination and will be submitted as soon as possible, but did not disclose a specific timeline.