South Korean Watchdog to Investigate Forex Activity in Local Banks

The Financial Supervisory Service of South Korea (FSS) is reportedly launching an investigation of the forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Read this Term records of local banks following suspicious activities reported in one branch of Woori Bank.

According to The Korea Times, such activities accounted for 800 billion won or $616 million in the branch located in Seoul in 2021. A single bank branch conducted more than 145 times the average amount of foreign exchange trading, which raised suspicion.

The bank reported the suspicious trading records to the financial authority following an internal audit. As soon as the FSS received the report, it conducted an on-site investigation at the branch.

“As abnormal levels of foreign exchange transactions were detected at some banks, including Woori Bank, the FSS urged all banks to conduct their own internal inspections,” an official from the FSS commented.

Shinhan Bank, which reported similar abnormal foreign exchange trading activities, was also investigated by the financial watchdog agency. In addition to investigating the cases for possible violations of the country’s anti-money laundering laws and foreign exchange transactions act, the FSS also ordered other local banks to conduct internal inspections regarding their foreign exchange trading records.

An Investigation Is Underway

As reported by Finance Magnates, on June 23, the financial watchdog conducted an on-site inspection of the lender in response to the report. An FSS inspection will focus on whether the lender violated any of the regulations under the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act and applied anti-money laundering tactics sufficiently.

A more detailed investigation will be conducted into the source of the transactions by the watchdog. Some suggested that suspicious transactions may have been part of crypto-related money laundering Money Laundering Money laundering is a blanket term to describe the process by which criminals disguise the original ownership and proceeds of criminal conduct by making such proceeds appear to be derived from a legitimate source.Money laundering is an issue that traverses countless industries and sectors, which includes the financial services space. Though criminal money may be successfully laundered without the assistance of the financial sector, billions of dollars’ worth of criminally derived money are laund Money laundering is a blanket term to describe the process by which criminals disguise the original ownership and proceeds of criminal conduct by making such proceeds appear to be derived from a legitimate source.Money laundering is an issue that traverses countless industries and sectors, which includes the financial services space. Though criminal money may be successfully laundered without the assistance of the financial sector, billions of dollars’ worth of criminally derived money are laund Read this Term. However, according to Woori, no specific evidence has been found to support the argument for now. “The investigation by the watchdog is expected to be completed as early as the end of next week,” the Woori official said, who added: “As the watchdog launched the investigation on the suspicious foreign exchange transaction, we need to wait and see until the investigative results are shared by the authority.”