As financial companies expand use of AI, South Korean regulators are sharpening oversight of security and internal controls. The Financial Services Commission plans to exempt sanctions for minor system disruptions during AI security tests or emergency patches if conditions are met, while requiring swift recovery and consumer protection. The Financial Supervisory Service will intensively inspect IT basic controls in the second half and urged banks to build AI internal-control systems. A Woori Bank data leak and broader market and industry moves have also highlighted digital risks.

Standard Chartered and Circle are launching a service that allows institutional clients to mint and redeem USDC within banking processes. Cointelegraph reported on July 2 that the first location will be the Dubai International Financial Centre. Institutions will be able to mint or redeem the dollar-linked stablecoin directly on Standard Chartered’s platform without opening a separate Circle account. Standard Chartered said it is the first major bank to offer such a USDC service.