This Act stipulates matters concerning reporting on and use of specified financial transaction information necessary to regulate money laundering and financing of terrorism through financial transactions such as foreign exchange transactions.
On the other hand, recently, virtual currencies based on a distributed ledger technology (a blockchain technology) have been actively traded, and the transactions of virtual currencies are characterized by anonymity. However, since virtual currencies are likely to be used as a means of tax evasion, money laundering, or concealing criminal proceeds due to the anonymity of transactions, institutional devices are needed to reduce adverse effects.
Therefore, this amendment aims to include "virtual currencies" and "virtual currency dealers" in the financial companies and financial transactions subject to the Act and require virtual currency dealers to fulfill their obligations to prevent money laundering and financing of terrorism through financial transactions.

Details

A. Including virtual currencies using the distributed ledger technology, which makes the other party to a transaction perceive as a medium of exchange or a means of storing value, in "financial companies, etc.," subject to this Act (Article 2, subparagraph 1 (N) newly inserted).
B. The definition of the term "financial transaction" includes storing, managing, exchanging, purchasing and selling, arranging, exchanging virtual currencies with financial assets for a brokeraging business, etc. (Article 2, subparagraph 2 (D) newly inserted).
C. Where a virtual currency dealer is a customer, if a financial company, etc., verifies that the customer has not fulfilled its reporting obligations, the financial company shall reject a new transaction with the customer, and if the customer has a transaction relation, the financial company shall terminate such transaction (Article 5-2 (4)).
D. Request any virtual currency dealer to report its company and representative names to the Commissioner of the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit and allow the Commissioner of the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit to disclose the information of reported virtual currency dealers (Article 5-5 newly inserted)
E. Specify the obligation to take measures, including to request any virtual currency dealer to manage the deposit and transaction amount separately from its own property in respect of the customer’s due diligence (Article 5-6 newly inserted)
F. Where a virtual currency dealer does not take measures to effectively prevent money laundering and financing of terrorism through financial transactions, impose an administrative fine of up to 100 million won, and where a virtual currency dealer does not report to the Commissioner of the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit, impose an administrative fine of up to 30 million won (Article 17 (1) and (2))

Impose an obligation to report virtual currency-related regulations (Article 4 (1) 1 and 2)
Impose a no-divulge obligation on employees in virtual currency-related financial companies (Article 4 (6))
Impose an obligation to report when a financial company, etc., performs large-value transactions of virtual currencies (Article 4-2 (1))
Impose an obligation to report on financial companies, etc., when there is a suspicious installment transaction of virtual currencies (Article 4-2 (2))
Impose customer due diligence and an obligation to prepare and operate a business guideline on virtual currency dealers (Article 5-2 (1) 1 and 2 (B))
Make it mandatory to include appropriate measures of virtual currency transactions in the business guideline (Article 5-2 (2))
Impose an obligation to terminate transactions on financial companies, etc. when a virtual currency dealer is a customer and the customer unfulfills the reporting obligation (Article 5-2 (4) 2)
Impose an obligation to provide information to the extent virtual currencies and not exceeding five million won or the equivalence in the scope of providing information in case of wire transfer (Article 5-3 (1))
Impose an obligation to reserve information on financial companies, etc., for five years after a transaction relation is terminated when having a virtual currency transaction relation (Article 5-4 (1) 1, 2 and Article 5-4 (2))
Impose an obligation to report on virtual currency dealers (Article 5-5)
Impose an obligation to take measures on virtual currency dealers (Article 5-6)
Allow the Commissioner of the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit to request the head of any financial company to provide relevant information or materials of virtual currency transactions, which use transactions in the foreign exchange business prescribed in the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act (Article 10 (3))
Allow the Commissioner of the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit to request the head of any financial company the information of virtual currencies when the Commissioner supervises and exmaines a financial company, etc. (Article 11 (7))