Australia Moves Forward With Teen Social Media Ban as Platforms Begin Lockouts 
Japan’s Nikkei Drops as Markets Await Key U.S. Inflation Data 
Asian Markets Mixed as Fed Rate Cut Bets Grow and Japan’s Nikkei Leads Gains 
Europe Confronts Rising Competitive Pressure as China Accelerates Export-Led Growth 
Gold Prices Steady as Markets Await Key U.S. Data and Expected Fed Rate Cut 
China Urged to Prioritize Economy Over Territorial Ambitions, Says Taiwan’s President Lai 
Netflix’s Bid for Warner Bros Discovery Aims to Cut Streaming Costs and Reshape the Industry 
OpenAI Moves to Acquire Neptune as It Expands AI Training Capabilities 
U.S. Futures Steady as Rate-Cut Bets Rise on Soft Labor Data 
Asian Currencies Edge Higher as Markets Look to Fed Rate Cut; Rupee Steadies Near Record Lows 
Visa to Move European Headquarters to London’s Canary Wharf 
YouTube Agrees to Follow Australia’s New Under-16 Social Media Ban 
ExxonMobil to Shut Older Singapore Steam Cracker Amid Global Petrochemical Downturn 
IMF Deputy Dan Katz Visits China as Key Economic Review Nears 
EU Prepares Antitrust Probe Into Meta’s AI Integration on WhatsApp 
Asian Currencies Steady as Rupee Hits Record Low Amid Fed Rate Cut Bets 
Airline Loyalty Programs Face New Uncertainty as Visa–Mastercard Fee Settlement Evolves 
South Korea’s Financial Services Commission chairman nominee, Koh Seung Beom, recently said that he does not see cryptocurrencies as a financial asset, but despite this, on Thursday, the FSC stated that it will create an independent agency to bolster the supervision of virtual assets and operators in the country.
The commission added that the bureau would also be tasked to spot and identify possible money laundering cases. The announcement about the plans to form a cryptocurrency policy review agency came just a day after Koh Seung Beom shared his belief that “cryptocurrencies are not real.”
According to The Korea Times, the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KFIU), a unit of the FSC that supervises anti-money laundering, will be given the power to manage the newly-formed office. The group has been dubbed as the "crypto asset monitoring bureau," and it will now begin monitoring any suspicious financial activity related to cryptocurrency assets.
The monitoring is needed for the officials to decide if they can extend the license of cryptocurrency operators or not. In addition, the establishment of the group was made to explore means on how the regulators can improve investor protection rules.
"The FSC's decision for the creation of an independent bureau inside KFIU with increased personnel is aimed at checking and monitoring cryptocurrency-related financial activity and preventing potential money laundering," an official from FSC state.
It was revealed that the FSC has been teaming up with other financial institutions to strengthen crypto regulations in S. Korea. The commission also provided a six-month grace period for the country's cryptocurrency exchange operators to register using real-name trading accounts at the KFIU. If they fail to do this, they will not be allowed to operate in the country.
Pulse News reported that four crypto exchanges in Korea are on the verge of closure as they have yet to apply for state certification for the protection of information assets. Meanwhile, the FSC already disclosed a list of crypto exchanges that have and have not filed for the required Information Security Management System (ISM) certification. If they still haven’t registered by the Sept. 24 deadline, they will be forced to shut down immediately.
