Korbit Exchange Bans Employee Crypto Trading In South Korea

South Korean crypto exchange Korbit said it will take over the accounts of employees and their families in a bid to strengthen internal controls.

Local reports noted on January 16 that the country’s regulations under the Enforcement Decree of the Specified Financial Information Act prohibit employees and officers from trading virtual assets on the exchange they work for.

upbit and korbit transformation rules

In November, Upbit operator Dunamu extended these trading restrictions to family members of its employees.

These changes are being made to eliminate conflict of interest and establish ethical governance in the market. Korbit voluntarily decided to exercise internal control over the accounts of employee families, including brothers and sisters.

“The implementation of monitoring our employees’ family accounts is part of our efforts to raise Korbit’s internal control standards to the level of traditional financial institutions,” Korbit CEO Oh Se-jin said in a translated statement.

Last year, the top five crypto exchanges vowed to operate under a joint advisory body to safeguard the market.

The market has changed due to two major downturns: the collapse of Three Arrows Capital (3AC) last year and the recent demise of FTX. The market crash played a major role in wiping off over a trillion dollars from the cumulative cryptocurrency market cap.

South Korea hardens after 3AC crisis

Prosecutors in South Korea recently froze assets of parties involved with Terra Luna. In June 2022, the South Korean government announced a digital assets committee to oversee the sector.

To improve investor protection and strengthen market surveillance, the nation consolidated the operations of several ministries under Planning and Finance, Finance Commission, Science and Technology, Information Communication and Personal Information Security verticals.

South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) previously indicated that the country’s securities and capital markets regulations may soon include virtual assets.