In the aftermath of the Terra collapse last spring, South Korean legislators intend to ramp up legislation, putting specific emphasis on the protection of investors in virtual assets — i.e. digital currencies — and harshening penalties for unfair trade acts in the industry.
According to local media, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the National Assembly are working to pass a bill that would enable financial authorities to monitor and punish unfair trade practices such as the use of undisclosed information, price manipulation and fraud while supervising crypto exchanges.
The legislation bears an emergent character — while there are already 14 different proposals regarding crypto and digital assets circulating in the National Assembly and the ambitious comprehensive Digital Asset Basic Act in making, this one should guarantee more investors protection starting from 2023.
As an unnamed official from the National Assembly told the press:
“In the U.S., since the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) exercises a wide range of powers, it is possible to punish unfair trade in virtual assets without separate legislation, but in Korea, related legislation is absolutely necessary.”
While there are no details on the specific penalties for various malpractice, it is expected that they will be designed in order to synchronize the…
