South Korean crypto-related firms said they are concerned that banks are being given too much power by the country’s financial regulators.
In the latest regulatory rulings unveiled this week, regulators stated that banks would be obliged to decide whether or not they want to do business with crypto exchanges using their own anti money-laundering (AML) risk assessment processes.
The move will mean banks have the final say on which exchanges ultimately receive regulatory permission to operate – as unbanked exchanges will be unable to obtain operating permits under the new law.
But the latest ruling has angered much of the nation’s crypto community.
Blockchain consultant Mira Kim told Our,
“If the banks refuse to do business with exchanges, they will be forced to close down.”
The new rules, which come into force next year, also appear to allow banks to make their rulings without having to justify their decisions to applicant exchanges.
Both Kim and the experts interviewed by Seoul Finance opined that while bigger exchanges that already abide by the strictest of bank-issued AML policies will likely be safe, small and medium-sized platforms are most at risk from the new measures.
The same media outlet quoted an unnamed official at a domestic commercial bank as conceding,