Financial Services Commission converts Virtual Assets Division to permanent unit…strengthens supervisory and policy response

The Financial Services Commission announced it will convert the Virtual Assets Division, which had been operating as a temporary unit, into a permanent unit, and will also change the Virtual Assets Inspection Division established at the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to a permanent system.

On the 16th, the Financial Services Commission issued a legislative notice in the official gazette for a partial amendment to the "Enforcement Rules of the Organization of the Financial Services Commission and Its Affiliated Agencies" containing these provisions. The amendment sets a direction to operate virtual asset-related policy and supervisory tasks as a continuous administrative system rather than as one-off responses.

The Virtual Assets Division was established in July 2024 in line with the enforcement of the Virtual Asset User Protection Act. After the law took effect, demand for institutional stabilization and market management grew rapidly, and the division was converted to a permanent unit a year and a half after its establishment. At the same time, the Virtual Assets Inspection Division established at the FIU will also be converted from a temporary unit to a permanent unit. This is interpreted as reflecting the assessment that organizational continuity is necessary as inspections of virtual asset service providers and anti-money laundering (AML)-related supervisory tasks become regularized.