[Exclusive] Due to Delay in Report Acceptance... GoPie Investors File Compensation Lawsuit Against Financial Services Commission Chairman and Financial Supervisory Service Chief

Kim Ju-hyun, Financial Services Commission Chairman, Lee Bok-hyun, Financial Supervisory Service Governor, Park Jung-hoon, FIU Director, and others face 50 million won scale
"Notification of report acceptance results must be made within 45 days... Examination beyond the legitimate review scope"

It has been confirmed that an investor and legal representative has filed a damages claim lawsuit against the Financial Services Commission Chairman, the Financial Supervisory Service Governor, and the head of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Financial Services Commission, amid delays in withdrawals from Gopay, a coin deposit service operated by the domestic virtual asset exchange Gopax.

According to a report by Asia Economy on the 29th, lawyer Shim Jae-hoon visited the Seoul Central District Court and submitted a complaint seeking damages of 50 million KRW against Kim Ju-hyun, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, Lee Bok-hyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, Park Jung-hoon, head of the FIU, and FIU officials.

Previously, following the bankruptcy of the global virtual asset exchange FTX last year, Genesis Trading, which operated Gopay, halted new loans and redemptions, leaving Gopax unable to pay assets worth approximately 56.6 billion KRW. In response, the global exchange Binance proposed acquiring Gopax on the condition of supplying liquidity for withdrawals of Gopay deposit assets. Binance injected some funds earlier this year, but plans to provide the remaining balance only after the financial authorities approve the change of virtual asset service provider (VASP) registration.

On March 7, Gopax submitted a notification of change in registered executives and a business operator change report to the FIU after three Binance officials, including Leon Sing Phung, head of Binance Asia Pacific, were appointed as internal directors of Gopax. Under current law, authorities must notify the result of the registration approval within 45 days, but this was not done. Investors claim that the delay in approval beyond 45 days caused damages and that the authorities are conducting reviews beyond the legitimate scope based on the law. Subsequently, the CEO was changed from Leon Sing Phung to Lee Joong-hoon, but it is reported that a re-notification has not yet been submitted.

According to the virtual asset service provider registration manual, once the FIU receives the notification, it requests the Financial Supervisory Service to review the registration. The Financial Supervisory Service reviews the documents, examines whether there are grounds for rejection, and notifies the FIU. The FIU then notifies and announces the approval or rejection of the registration. The FIU must notify the approval status within three months from the date of receipt of the registration, or within 45 days for change notifications. However, if additional documents are requested to verify compliance with registration requirements, the period required for supplementation is excluded.

Lawyer Shim argues that the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information (the Special Act on Financial Transactions), its enforcement decree, supervisory regulations, manuals, and other provisions do not regulate or mention major shareholders of virtual asset service providers, and that the FIU has no authority or obligation to review this. He also claims that for the executive changes reported by Gopax, only background checks such as criminal records on the relevant executives are required, and the registration should be approved within 45 days.

He stated, "The ongoing delay in approval means that the authorities are conducting reviews beyond the legitimate scope based on the law, including other aspects, which must be related to the change of major shareholders, one of the two changed elements compared to before," adding, "Currently, the FIU and the Financial Supervisory Service are delaying approval without legal grounds despite no reasons for rejection in this case, and have not provided any explanation."