South Korea's authorities continue implementing measures to improve the country's virtual asset market regulation. On October 13, some officials revealed the formation of a 15-member public-private committee that will evaluate some crucial factors in the sector, such as the approval of spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and corporate virtual asset accounts.
The committee will include representatives of the government, industry, and legal professionals, which indicates the country's growing interest in creating well-calibrated rules for assets stored digitally.
This new committee shall be spearheaded by the vice chairman of Korea's Financial Services Commission, FSC. Some of the ministries that shall be included are; ministries of finance, justice and information and communication technology ministries.
The rest will be from professionals in the legal field, educational institutions dealing with virtual assets, and entities dealing with virtual assets. Other stakeholders such as those in the consumer protection and information security fields will also be part of the committee deciding on matters to address.
One primary consideration of the committee will be to assess South Korea's proposed policies on establishing the spot cryptocurrency ETF. This move will bring the country on par with other global markets that have recently opened to such investment products. Further, the committee will look into the issues regarding corporate virtual asset accounts, which are anticipated to act as key drivers toward adopting blockchain solutions in the corporate world.
Besides forming the committee, the FSC is already in the process of periodically assessing the regimes governing virtual asset business activities. The Specific Financial Information Act was proposed, and the regulator is further discussing the updates to this law, which enhance the reporting and compliance standards for organizations in the crypto industry. The South Koreans have made this move as part of a strategy to develop a more appropriate legal structure for the VA market.
The passing of the Virtual Asset User Protection Act will be an important move in business regulation and consumer protection. The FSC has noted that the regulation will be incremental to achieve the right balance between supporting innovation and protecting investors and users in the virtual asset ecosystem.