Lee Eok-won, chair of the Financial Services Commission, to directly lead sanctions over virtual asset incidents and accidents

Lee Eok-won, chair of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), is expected to personally review incidents and accidents related to virtual assets (cryptocurrencies).

According to financial authorities on the 6th, the FSC on the 4th announced a notice of the "Rules on the Operation of the Financial Services Commission" that includes delegating to the FSC chair authority related to supervision of and sanctions for the virtual asset market. The changes took effect immediately upon announcement.

The key of the revised rules is the creation of a new item, "matters related to virtual assets," in an appendix to the FSC operating rules, enabling the FSC chair to directly handle the receipt of notifications and reports of abnormal trading occurring in the virtual asset market and investigations into unfair trading practices.

Other items included in the announced revisions are: ▲ conducting hearings related to recommendations for dismissal and demands for removal of executives and employees of virtual asset service providers, ▲ matters concerning the imposition and collection of penalty surcharges, ▲ matters concerning the imposition and collection of administrative fines, and ▲ acceptance of reports on the processing results of delegated tasks to the Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service.

Explaining the reason for the revision, the FSC said, "This is to delegate to the FSC chair matters that do not require policy judgment, such as simple and repetitive administrative procedures, for the efficient operation of the FSC."