Korea Confirms $7.2 Billion in Unusual International Money Transfers

South Korea’s financial watchdog confirmed more cases of “abnormal” foreign-exchange transactions, mostly involving cryptocurrencies.

The Financial Supervisory Service discovered another $680 million in “abnormal” money transfers, bringing the total value of confirmed unusual transactions discovered since June to $7.2 billion, according to a statement issued Thursday. According to the FSS, the majority of transactions involved funds being transferred from cryptocurrency exchanges to local companies before being sent overseas.

According to the FSS data, 72% of the funds were transferred to Hong Kong, 15% to Japan, and 5% to China. According to the investigation, which has so far involved 82 companies, 82% of transfers were in US dollars, with the Japanese yen accounting for 15%. FSS investigated transfers from Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank, Hana Bank, Kookmin Bank, Nonghyup Bank, and seven other Korean banks.

The FSS stated that it hopes to complete the investigation into the 12 banks by the end of October and that it will take harsh measures if the investigation reveals that the lenders did not follow regulations.

In Asia’s fourth-largest economy, a previously enthusiastic embrace of digital tokens has been dampened by regulatory inquiries following this year’s crypto crash. The TerraUSD stablecoin and the $40 billion wipeout of South Korean entrepreneur Do Kwon‘s Terraform Labs ecosystem damaged confidence.

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