An amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Reporting and Use of Specified Financial Transaction Information takes effect 20 August 2026 (promulgated 18 August 2026, Presidential Decree No. 36592). It affects virtual asset service providers (VASPs) reporting or seeking to report under the Act, along with their major shareholders. The amendment removes the prior KRW 1 million floor on travel-rule information sharing, adds new major-shareholder disclosure items, specifies grounds on which a VASP report can be rejected, and expands the steps a receiving VASP must take when transfer information is missing.

What changed

  • Travel rule now applies regardless of amount. Previously, a VASP transferring virtual assets only had to provide transfer information to the receiving VASP where the value was KRW 1 million or more. Under the amended Article 10-10(1), this threshold is removed — information must be provided on every transfer, regardless of value.
  • Major-shareholder reporting expanded (Article 10-11(2)–(3), newly added). Where a VASP's largest shareholder is itself a corporation, that corporation's own largest shareholder and representative are now also brought within the reportable "major shareholder" scope. Required disclosure items include the major shareholder's real name and shareholding status.
  • Non-acceptance grounds for VASP registration specified (Article 10-12(5), (7) and new Schedule 1). The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) may reject a VASP's report where the applicant lacks sound financial standing or social credit — defined to include no adverse-credit incidents in the preceding 3 years and not having been a failed/insolvent financial institution in the preceding 5 years — or where the applicant lacks personnel with sufficient expertise/soundness in virtual asset transactions, or lacks adequate IT systems and other physical infrastructure.
  • Expanded receiving-VASP obligations (Article 10-20(6)–(8), newly added). Where a VASP receives a virtual asset transfer and has not received the required transfer information from the sending VASP, it must now demand that information from the sending VASP, among other added measures.

What this means for you

  • If you operate or are applying to operate a VASP in Korea, review your travel-rule information-sharing process now. Any threshold-based exemption for small transfers under KRW 1 million no longer applies from 20 August 2026 — every transfer requires information sharing.
  • Map your ownership structure against the expanded major-shareholder scope. If your largest shareholder is itself a corporate entity, you will need to identify and report that entity's own largest shareholder and representative, including real-name and shareholding details.
  • Check your registration file against the new non-acceptance criteria before filing or renewing. Confirm no adverse-credit events in the past 3 years, no failed-financial-institution history in the past 5 years, and that your personnel and IT infrastructure meet the expertise/soundness standard — the FIU can reject a report on these grounds.
  • Update your incoming-transfer procedures. If a counterparty VASP fails to send required transfer information, your compliance process must now include a step actively demanding that information, not merely proceeding without it.

Source: https://www.law.go.kr/법령/특정 금융거래정보의 보고 및 이용 등에 관한 법률 시행령