Virtual Asset Protection Act
Urban and Residential Environment Improvement Act, Including Floor Area Ratio Relaxation for Areas Near Transit Stations, Also Scheduled for Plenary Session
The amendment to the "Capital Markets and Financial Investment Services Act (Capital Markets Act)" imposing fines for unfair trading practices such as stock price manipulation, prepared in response to the stock price crash triggered by Soci?t? G?n?rale (SG) Securities, will be passed at the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 30th. Additionally, the enactment bill of the "Virtual Asset User Protection Act (Virtual Asset Protection Act)" aimed at protecting virtual asset users is also expected to pass the National Assembly. The "Yellow Envelope Act," which expands the right to strike for labor unions, is expected to undergo a secret ballot vote at the plenary session.
According to the National Assembly on the 30th, the Capital Markets Act amendment, which imposes fines up to twice the amount of profits gained or losses avoided through unfair acts such as using undisclosed important information, market manipulation, and fraudulent trading, is expected to be passed at the plenary session in the afternoon. The amendment defines the method of calculating unjust enrichment as total revenue minus total costs. Even if no unjust profit is found or calculation is difficult in cases where stock price manipulation is detected, the scale of fines will be reviewed by the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, with the cap lowered from 5 billion KRW to 4 billion KRW.
The enactment bill of the "Virtual Asset Protection Act," aimed at preventing unfair trading of virtual assets, will also be discussed at the plenary session. Although the virtual asset market has shown rapid growth, the lack of institutional measures made it difficult to punish user damages such as those caused by the Luna and Terra crashes. The bill stipulates that if unfair trading occurring abroad affects the domestic market, the law will apply domestically, and acts such as using undisclosed important information, market manipulation, and fraudulent trading will be defined as unfair acts punishable by imprisonment of at least one year or fines up to 500 million KRW. Virtual asset service providers will be required to deposit or entrust customer deposits, subscribe to insurance or mutual aid to prepare for hacking or system failure incidents, and create and store virtual asset transaction records. However, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee deleted the class action-related provisions after reflecting the Financial Services Commission's opinions.
The amendment to the Urban and Residential Environment Improvement Act, which relaxes floor area ratios and other regulations in redevelopment zones located near transit stations in exchange for utilizing part of the additionally constructed national housing-sized homes as public sale housing, will also be presented at the plenary session.
On the 21st, the partial amendment bill to the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes was passed at the plenary session held at the National Assembly. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@
The Housing Act, which includes provisions to strengthen supervision of housing construction businesses to prevent bid rigging, was held up in the full committee meeting during the systematic and textual review period of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 29th, due to Rep. Jang Dong-hyuk of the People Power Party requesting additional verification of the review contents by the committee's professional staff, and thus did not reach the plenary session on that day.
Meanwhile, a vote related to the submission of the amendment to the Labor Union Act, known as the Yellow Envelope Act, is scheduled at the plenary session on the same day. For now, the opposition parties plan only to submit the bill directly, with further negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties expected before the vote. Earlier, Kim Han-gyu, the Democratic Party floor spokesperson, explained, "We believe it is better to have consultations between the ruling and opposition parties rather than proceeding immediately." The People Power Party also stated, "The submission of the Yellow Envelope Act means it will be on the agenda (at the plenary session). There is no precedent for voting on the same day." Additionally, the four opposition parties plan to designate the special law for investigating the Itaewon disaster as a fast-track bill.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
