Reports of suspicious financial transactions jump

Cases of suspicious financial transactions in South Korea jumped last year, a report showed Monday, in line with the government’s regulations of cryptocurrency trading.

A total of 972,320 suspected cases of money laundering or fraud were filed with financial authorities in 2018, up 86.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the report by the National Assembly Budget Office (NABO).

The surge in suspicious financial transactions came after the government unveiled a guideline in January 2018 to prevent money laundering via cryptocurrency transactions, the report said.

Since January 2018, South Korea has implemented a real-name trading system for cryptocurrencies, banning the use of anonymous bank accounts in transactions to prevent virtual coins from being used for money laundering or other illegal activities.

The real-name trading system was also part of the government’s latest measures to curb speculative investment in virtual money.

The NABO suggested that reports of suspicious financial transactions jumped due to the ban on anonymous bank accounts in cryptocurrency trading.

Korean financial institutions are currently required to notify the state-run Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), which aims to prevent money laundering and illegal fund flows, of each deposit, withdrawal and currency exchange involving more than 10 million won ($8,241). (Yonhap)