South Korea’s finance regulator has informally warned local asset managers to reduce their exposure to crypto exchange-traded funds (ETF) and U.S.-listed digital asset firms, according to a report by the Korean Herald.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) verbally told several firms to limit their exposure to Coinbase (COIN) and Michael Saylor’s Strategy (MSTR), to comply with its 2017 policy stance.
The report seems to suggest a change in policy by the country as it was previously reported that the regulator was looking at easing some of the trading requirements for crypto. The FSS’ policy prohibits regulated financial institutions from holding or buying equity investments in digital assets.
An FSS official said that despite the change in the regulatory environment in the U.S. and South Korea, institutions need to abide by the current set of guidelines, the report added.
The FSS was not immediately available for comment.