South Korea’s Financial Services Commission decided to impose a partial business suspension for 6 months and an administrative fine of 36.8 billion won on digital asset exchange Bithumb for breaches including failures to meet anti-money laundering obligations.
On March 16, the financial sector and the industry said the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Financial Services Commission pre-notified Bithumb of a 6-month partial business suspension and disciplinary measures including a warning for the chief executive for violations of the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information. They said a sanctions review committee approved a heavy penalty, including an administrative fine of about 36.8 billion won, on the day.
The sanctions were mainly based on Bithumb’s continued transactions with overseas unreported virtual asset service providers and its failure to properly fulfil know-your-customer obligations. Authorities were reported to have judged there were serious flaws across its overall money laundering risk management system.
Sangyeop Oh
yub@d-today.co.kr