FIU to push for restrictions on transactions of suspicious accounts…"Preventing virtual asset crime"

Financial authorities said they will cooperate with the virtual asset industry to identify suspicious transactions by transnational criminal organizations and push for transaction restriction measures.

On the 7th, according to the industry, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the industry held the 'Cross-border Crime-Involved Suspicious Virtual Asset Transaction Analysis and Response Council' on the 5th and discussed related response measures.

It is interpreted that measures were put forward to stop criminal organizations in Cambodia and border regions of Southeast Asia that are presumed to use multiple external wallets to make fund tracing difficult or to open accounts in victims' names to attempt money laundering.

The industry said it will perform detailed analysis of accounts suspected of being abused for crime and submit suspicious transaction reports to the FIU. Reported materials will be analyzed by the FIU and used for investigations and asset seizures by prosecutors and police.

The FIU and the industry plan to immediately verify the source of funds and the purpose of transactions for customers suspected of being involved in Southeast Asian criminal funds, and, if explanations are insufficient, to restrict transactions.

Yun Yeong-eun, Director of System Operation and Planning at the FIU, said, "Money laundering techniques based on virtual assets are becoming more sophisticated," and "we will strengthen cooperation with overseas authorities such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)."

The FIU plans to strengthen analytical capabilities so that tracing, freezing, and seizure of criminal funds are carried out quickly, and to pursue institutional improvements such as resolving blind spots in cross-border transaction monitoring and introducing a 'suspicious account suspension system.'