The timing for filing a report on a change of major shareholders is being moved up, from within 14 days after the change to 30 days in advance. The revised version requires that when a virtual asset provider's major shareholder changes in nationality, name, address, registered legal name (real-name basis) or shareholdings, the provider must notify the FIU up to 30 days before the scheduled date of the share transfer.
Even after filing a change report, a provider cannot carry out the shareholder change until the FIU accepts it. The revised measure states that carrying out an item subject to advance change notification before receiving notice of acceptance may constitute grounds for the FIU to cancel the provider's registration on its own authority, or may amount to a violation of the specified financial information act.
The scope of the review is also being expanded. Providers must identify and submit related documents not only for the largest shareholder but also for that shareholder's related parties, and, where the largest shareholder is a corporation, for that corporation's largest shareholder and de facto controllers. Detailed criteria have also been set for assessing financial condition and social credit standing by type of major shareholder. The move appears aimed at tightening oversight of major shareholder eligibility, coming amid a string of deals such as Mirae Asset Securities' (006800.KS) acquisition of Korbit and investments in Coinone by Korea Investment & Securities and OKX.
Regulators will also review whether a provider is actually operating. Except in the case of an initial filing, a virtual asset provider that records no business activity for six months or more may be denied acceptance of its filing. This is understood to be intended to screen out providers that retain only their registered status without any substantive operations, even after having their filing accepted. As a result, a cleanup of effectively dormant providers that have maintained only their filing eligibility is expected to begin in earnest. Regulators, however, plan not to judge solely on the presence or absence of business activity, but to consider factors such as a provider's intention to continue operating.
The revised version also includes detailed review criteria for financial soundness, such as a debt ratio of 200% or lower, and for legal compliance systems, including anti-money-laundering staff and IT facilities. Regulators plan to hold a briefing session on the filing manual for virtual asset providers on the 13th to explain the details. An official in the cryptocurrency industry said regulators are effectively moving toward requiring virtual asset providers to meet levels of financial soundness and internal controls comparable to those of financial firms, adding that for small providers lacking staff and capital, maintaining a filing itself could become a considerable burden.
