Reforms in South Korea aim to fast-track freezing of accounts linked to illegal gambling

Financial authorities plan to propose a system for gambling-related accounts to be suspended more quickly.

South Korea.- The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) is revising the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information. According to reports, one of the goals of the reform is to create a new system that would allow authorities to quickly suspend accounts suspected of being used for illegal gambling, as well as other crimes such as narcotics trafficking and terrorism financing.

At present, financial accounts can generally only be frozen through a court order, a process authorities say can slow down investigations and allow criminal activity to continue. Under the proposed changes, the FIU would be able to directly suspend suspicious accounts following requests from investigative agencies.

The amendment is expected to be submitted to the National Assembly in September after internal discussions conclude during the first half of the year.

The FIU is also consulting with the cryptocurrency sector over amendments to the enforcement decree of the same law, which is set to take effect on August 20. Representatives from the country’s major crypto exchanges and the Digital Asset eXchange Alliance (DAXA) recently met with FIU officials to discuss the changes.

The regulator has also updated its suspicious transaction guidelines to better detect modern money laundering methods tied to illegal gambling and transnational crime networks.

See also:

See also: HKJC chief warns of growing illegal gambling risk in Hong Kong

Financial authorities plan to propose a system for gambling-related accounts to be suspended more quickly. South Korea.- The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) is revising the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information. According to reports, one of the goals of the reform is to create a new system that would allow authorities to…