Naver-Dunamu Deal Gets Regulatory Boost as South Korea Considers Exception Clause

A South Korean regulatory reform committee has recommended adding an exception clause to proposed revisions of the enforcement decree for the Act on Reporting and Use of Specific Financial Transaction Information.

The move could ease a regulatory hurdle for Naver's acquisition of Dunamu, a cryptocurrency exchange operator.

Naver was fined 200 million won (approximately $145,000) in a first-trial ruling last year over alleged Fair Trade Act violations tied to its real-estate information service. If the decree revision takes effect in its original form, that record could become a factor in the VASP major shareholder eligibility review tied to the Dunamu deal.

The committee reportedly concluded that uniformly rejecting filings without weighing the seriousness of a violation could be excessive relative to the purpose of the regulation. The recommendation may also affect Naver's acquisition of Dunamu, which still faces other procedural variables including a Korea Fair Trade Commission merger review and the government's proposed Digital Asset Basic Act.