ChainCatcher news, according to South Korean media NAVER, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of South Korea issued a business suspension notice to Upbit, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, on January 9. The main reason is the violation of anti-money laundering obligations regarding customer identity verification (KYC) under the Specific Financial Transaction Information Act. The FIU found approximately 700,000 cases of improper KYC execution during its inspection, as well as violations related to business dealings with unregistered overseas virtual asset service providers.Once the penalties are confirmed, Upbit will be restricted from new user-related operations for up to 6 months. Upbit currently holds over 70% of the South Korean cryptocurrency trading market, and this penalty may affect its business license renewal review. The FIU will hold a sanctions committee meeting on January 21 to determine the final details of the penalties.

ChainCatcher news, according to SBS Biz, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) of South Korea will strengthen its cryptocurrency monitoring system based on the "Virtual Asset User Protection Act." The FSS will improve its methods for collecting and processing cryptocurrency data and establish its own standards for identifying suspicious transactions. It also plans to develop standards for monitoring price fluctuations and spikes in trading volume.In addition, the regulatory agency will enhance its management of data received from overseas cryptocurrency exchanges, including transaction records and policy actions. The agency has allocated approximately 150 million won (108,000 USD) for these upgrades, with the goal of completing them by the first quarter of next year.

According to ChainCatcher news, Binance has reported its acquisition of Gopax to the South Korean financial regulatory authorities. Gopax completed the submission of a change report for virtual asset operators to the Financial Intelligence Unit yesterday afternoon. According to the Specific Financial Information Act, a change report must be submitted when there is a change in the representative or executive officer registration. Earlier this month, Gopax replaced its CEO, founder Lee Jun-haeng, with Binance's Asia Pacific CEO Leon Sing Foong. Additionally, Binance has appointed new internal directors.The report states that even if the FIU accepts the report, it must consider whether Jeonbuk Bank will continue to provide real-name accounts to Gopax. If Jeonbuk Bank feels burdened by the change in shareholders and cancels the cooperation, Gopax's qualification as a virtual asset operator may be revoked. (Newsis)