South Korean Lawmaker Pushes Faster Corporate Entry Into Digital-Asset Market as Basic Law Debate Set to Accelerate

South Korea's National Assembly is facing growing calls to speed work on a framework that would allow corporations to participate in the digital-asset market. The Financial Services Commission said it plans to present guidelines for opening the corporate market in step with a push to advance the Digital Asset Basic Act in the second half of the year.

Ahn Do-geol of the Democratic Party made the remarks at a seminar he hosted on July 23 at the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Yeouido, Seoul, titled "Academic Conference on Opening the Corporate Market and Building a Safe Digital-Asset Ecosystem."

The Financial Services Commission's roadmap for phased corporate participation in the digital-asset market has not been followed by fast enough action, Ahn said. He added that the National Assembly would step up discussions on the Digital Asset Basic Act in the second half.

Industry participants said infrastructure needs to be in place before the corporate market is opened. Ryu Hong-yeol, chief executive officer of BDACS, said safeguards including custody and internal-control systems are needed to ensure trust in the market once corporations begin entering the digital-asset sector.

Ryu said corporations and institutional investors in particular should be required to use independent custodians. Separating the party that makes trading decisions from the one that stores and verifies assets is necessary for audits and board oversight to function properly, he added.

Shin Hee-jin, a director at Kyobo Securities, said the era of institutional investment will not begin simply because corporate accounts can be opened. Investment decisions, trade approvals, asset custody, accounting treatment and reporting to regulators must all be linked under a single control framework. The institutional-investor era will begin when it is clear who invests, who holds assets, who oversees them and who is responsible if an incident occurs, she said.

Officials said they share the industry's view.

Kim Sung-jin, head of the virtual-asset division at the Financial Services Commission, said trading based on investment assets cannot proceed smoothly unless those assets are stored and managed safely. Authorities are considering whether to classify custody as a separate business category during the second phase of legislation and how to design entry rules and conduct regulations for that sector.

Asked when the corporate-market opening guidelines would be announced, Kim said discussions are under way. Because many issues are tied to the second phase of legislation, the commission will coordinate with relevant agencies, he said. On whether the government will prepare a proposal in the second half, Kim said it would move as quickly as possible because the matter is included as a policy task in the government's economic policy direction.

Authorities also said anti-money-laundering safeguards should be strengthened alongside the opening of the corporate market. Jung Tae-ho, planning and cooperation team leader at the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit, said the corporate participation roadmap and guidelines also reflect requirements under the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information and broader AML rules. Even if corporate participation expands, the focus will be on building a management system that minimizes money-laundering risks, he said.