Acceleration of Phase 2 Legislation for Virtual Assets…Decision on 'Corporate Account Allowance' Delayed

Kim So-young, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, stated on the 15th, "We will swiftly proceed with policy reviews to establish a virtual asset ecosystem that balances innovation and stability."

Vice Chairman Kim held the second meeting of the Virtual Asset Committee at the Seoul Government Complex at 10 a.m. that day, initiating full-scale discussions for the second phase of legislation for the 'Virtual Asset User Protection Act' (hereinafter referred to as the User Protection Act) with relevant ministries, agencies, and private sector members.

The meeting participants selected key tasks that need to be reviewed for the second phase legislation, discussed considerations and legislative directions for each task, and also examined issues related to stablecoins, which are actively being discussed by international organizations and major countries.

Stablecoins are virtual assets that aim to maintain stable value by linking to specific assets such as fiat currency.

However, the issue of 'allowing corporate accounts for virtual assets,' which was expected to be discussed at this meeting, was omitted from the agenda.

In his opening remarks, Vice Chairman Kim only mentioned that the issue of 'allowing real-name accounts for corporations' is in the final review stage after a total of 12 subcommittee and task force discussions.

The first topic of discussion at the meeting was the regulation of entry and business conduct from the perspective of virtual asset operators.

While examining overseas legislative examples that encompass various types of virtual asset businesses such as trading, brokerage, custody, management, advisory, and evaluation, the need for new regulations on unfair business practices to protect users and prevent conflicts of interest, as well as the imposition of obligations to establish internal control standards, was pointed out.

Regarding virtual asset trading, considering the domestic market centered on exchanges, all committee members agreed that establishing a transparent listing and disclosure system is a key element for user protection.

To this end, the need to enhance the implementation efficiency of 'trading support (listing),' which is currently regulated by self-regulation model standards, and to introduce periodic disclosure systems like 'business reports' and ad-hoc disclosure systems like 'major matters disclosure system' in line with capital market disclosures was raised.

In the discussion on stablecoin regulation measures, the recent trends of global stablecoins and the regulatory establishment status of each country were examined.

In particular, the recent global major regulatory trends, such as imposing strict management obligations on reserve assets for stablecoin issuers and explicitly guaranteeing users' redemption claims to protect users, were comprehensively reviewed.

The Financial Services Commission plans to form a task force and subcommittees with relevant agencies in the future to begin detailed reviews of major tasks for the second phase legislation.

Tasks that have completed practical reviews will be sequentially discussed by the 'Virtual Asset Committee' to prepare specific phase 2 legislation in the second half of the year.

In his opening remarks, Vice Chairman Kim stated, "The recent global virtual asset market is undergoing rapid changes, intertwined with expectations and anxieties, and major countries are focusing on 'resolving regulatory uncertainty' along with user protection, accelerating the establishment of virtual asset regulatory frameworks."

He continued, "The EU has implemented the 'Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA)' regulation, which encompasses business entry and conduct regulation, virtual asset trading, and disclosure regulation, since the end of last year, and Asian economic hubs like Hong Kong and Singapore are also aiming to become 'virtual asset hubs' by sequentially organizing unclear regulatory areas."

He emphasized, "As the United States is also expected to prioritize clarifying virtual asset regulatory agencies and establishing stablecoin regulations in the future, our government should also read the major global trends and continuously review and supplement the current regulatory system."

Park Chan-hwi, reporter pch8477@wowtv.co.kr