Korea revises bill to check criminal info of virtual asset service providers

The law also broadened rule-breaking activities that are screened.

South Korea has passed a revised bill enabling authorities to check the criminal info of the shareholders when registering to become a virtual asset service provider (VASP) in the country.

The revised law, called the The Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information, allows the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU) to check the criminal record of major shareholders of a VASP registrant, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) said in a statement.

The law also broadens rule-breaking activities screened to include violations regarding illegal narcotics trafficking, fair trade, tax offenses, specific economic crimes, and virtual asset user protection, amongst others.

KoFIU will also examine the “financial conditions and social credibility” of VASPs, and “whether they are equipped with appropriate levels of organizational, human resources, computer network, and internal control capacities for complying with relevant regulations,” the FSC said.

Separately, the law now allows the KoFIU to notify financial companies about the issuance of sanctions imposed on their former (retired) employees for violation of the act.

The Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information passed the plenary session of the National Assembly on 29 January 2026.

Earlier in January, the FSC proposed changing the standard for calculating loan-to-deposit ratios for banks, with the goal of encouraging more lending to companies and individual business owners located outside the Seoul metropolitan area.