South Korea has proposed greater cooperation worldwide between regulators for cryptocurrencies and initial coin offering (ICO) regulations to prevent money laundering, according to Asian Economic TV reports on Friday, September 7.

When discussing cryptocurrencies, South Korea usually come up. They are heavily engaged in the crypto space and have been working on regulating the new industry for quite a while, but have not come to terms yet. A few months ago, South Korea set up a cryptocurrency department, dedicated to cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology which is an effort to create smarter regulations.

One month ago they picked up the pace by pleading the lawmakers to speed up the process of drafting a regulatory bill concerning the industry. A few weeks ago the lawmakers met once again to discuss the ending of the South Korean ban of initial coin offering. The past weeks shows that South Korea tries to find a way to integrate cryptocurrencies and ICOs within the country and sees a bright future for the digital currencies.

They have even shown the intention of creating a crypto island, an exclusive zone for blockchain and cryptocurrencies within South Korea and the governor, Won Hee-Ryon stated,

“Blockchain is an opportunity for Korea to take the lead in global internet platform development”.

An official from South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) now proposes a greater international cooperation between regulators for cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings. Yoon Suk-Heun, who is the governor of FSS made a statement of greater cooperation during the opening ceremony of the latest Integrated Financial Supervisors Conference (IFSC) that was held in Seoul and was attended by officials from 15 countries.

He also warned that new financial services, such as cryptocurrencies and fintech, can cause risks regarding consumer protection. In particular, he stressed the need to create a global regulatory system for cryptocurrencies to protect consumers, prevent money laundering and improve transparency.

“For new risks involving cryptocurrencies, we must calm overheated speculation and crack down on illegal activities and improve transparency.”

The IFSC is a consultative body of countries, which supervises the financial industry. That includes banks, insurance and securities companies and are designed to discuss the direction of global supervision. It has 16 members, including South Korea, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Hungary, Iceland, Denmark and Ireland.

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