A foreign employee of South Korea-based Busan Bank stole about 1.48 billion won from customer funds and invested the money in crypto assets like Bitcoin (BTC), local media reported on 1 August.
South Korea Consider Stricter Control Measures
South Korea plans to revise its law on governance of financial companies due to the theft, according to the report.
The country’s Financial Monitoring Service (FSS) said the embezzlement was due to the lack of internal controls in eight key areas, including personnel management, self-service store auditing, and sealed management.
The regulator also found that abnormal transaction monitoring procedures and irregular situations in transferring funds overseas also played a role in major incidents of embezzlement. The FSS said Shinhan and Woori Banks reported more than 4 trillion won in overseas remittances, while the total suspicious bank transactions amounted to around 7 trillion.
Although the regulator’s decision to revise the corporate governance law is not directly related to irregular remittances and major embezzlement, it is believed that such a revision could improve internal control practices.
The authorities believe that such laws will encourage managers to pay more attention to the company’s internal operations. In addition, the FSS plans to create an internal control sector within the framework of the standards for the evaluation of financial institutions.
