Guidelines containing rules for corporations' virtual asset investments are expected as early as next month. The financial authorities, which are discussing the final draft, plan to release the Digital Asset Basic Act and the corporate transaction guidelines in sequence. The scale of corporations' virtual asset investments is still under discussion.
According to the financial industry on the 4th, the Financial Services Commission is reviewing the final draft of the corporate virtual asset transaction guidelines. The Financial Services Commission aims to announce the Digital Asset Basic Act within this month, so the guidelines are expected to come out after next month. An official at the Financial Services Commission said, "The system (Digital Asset Basic Act) needs to come first so that we can issue the guidelines based on it."
The guidelines are expected to include the types of virtual assets that corporations can invest in, requirements to store virtual assets with a custodian before and after transactions, and measures for companies to prevent money-laundering risks. Among listed companies, those in which the government holds equity and financial companies such as banks and insurers that must manage assets safely are expected to face difficulty transacting.
The Financial Services Commission sought to include corporations' annual investment limits in these guidelines, but even experts are split and no consensus has been reached. The financial authorities, holding the view that large-scale coin investments by corporations could threaten financial soundness, are reviewing a plan to allow investments only up to 5%–10% of equity capital.
The Financial Services Commission is collecting opinions through a public-private task force (TF) to coordinate contentious issues in the corporate virtual asset transaction guidelines.
A TF official said, "The authorities feel burdened about setting an investment limit for virtual assets," adding, "Even if this guideline does not include an investment cap, it is likely to include guidance to limit the scale."