16th 'Anti-Money Laundering Day' Ceremony... KB Kookmin Bank Awarded Presidential Citation for Operating 'Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Indicators'

Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Efforts, Awards for Outstanding Contributors and Institutions in Related Work Conducted

[Asia Economy Reporter Sim Nayoung] The Financial Intelligence Unit held the 16th Anti-Money Laundering Day ceremony on the 28th at the International Conference Room of the Korea Federation of Banks. About 200 officials attended the event, including Kim Joo-hyun, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, representatives from law enforcement agencies such as the Korea Customs Service, heads of financial associations, and executives and employees of financial companies.

At the awards ceremony for meritorious contributors, awards were presented to eight institutions and 26 individual contributors who contributed to anti-money laundering efforts. Kookmin Bank received the Presidential Citation in recognition of its faithful operation of its own 'Anti-Money Laundering Implementation Index' and the establishment of an enhanced risk management system related to virtual assets.

Hana Savings Bank was highly praised for contributing to the establishment of a sound financial transaction order by operating the 'Anti-Money Laundering Excellence Award System' for suspicious transaction reporting and conducting 'strategic transaction monitoring' to identify and report unregistered virtual asset service providers, and received the Presidential Citation.

The Prime Minister's Citation was awarded to Yongdu Nonghyup. It was recognized for its contribution to anti-money laundering by faithfully implementing institutional compliance evaluations, actively establishing internal controls, and conducting employee training.

Hyundai Motor Securities received the Prime Minister's Citation for contributing to the prevention of financial crimes by establishing and operating an efficient computerized system for anti-money laundering tasks and fostering anti-money laundering experts to enhance the capabilities of field personnel.

Suhyup Bank, Grand Korea Leisure, Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China were recognized for their efforts in establishing internal control systems for anti-money laundering and strengthening employee capabilities, and received the Financial Services Commission Chairman's Citation.

Additionally, 26 individuals, including employees of inspection agencies such as the Financial Supervisory Service, law enforcement agency staff from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, National Tax Service, Korea Customs Service, and National Police Agency, as well as anti-money laundering officers of financial companies, were recognized for their diligent performance of anti-money laundering duties and received the Financial Services Commission Chairman's Citation.

Kim Joo-hyun, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, said in his welcoming remarks, "Thanks to the tireless efforts of the Financial Intelligence Unit, the anti-money laundering system has established itself as a core infrastructure of the financial system and has reached a level recognized by the international community." He added, "The amendment of the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information in 2020 introduced anti-money laundering regulations for virtual assets, playing an important role as a meaningful regulatory framework."

Park Jung-hoon, Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit, presented the future direction of anti-money laundering policies through his commemorative speech, including ▲ strengthening proactive and preventive supervision such as consulting-centered oversight to enable financial companies to voluntarily and continuously enhance risk management capabilities ▲ establishing objective and reasonable sanction standards and devising ways to increase the effectiveness of sanctions ▲ strengthening risk management for virtual asset service providers by transparently managing virtual asset movement paths when dealing with high-risk operators such as overseas virtual asset exchanges ▲ and enhancing global leadership by cooperating with international organizations as a member of the international community and strengthening support for developing countries.