Administrative Bodies

The foreign exchange system is operated mainly by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance(MOSF) and the Bank of Korea. Much of the authority is, however, delegated to foreign exchange banks.

The MOSF is responsible, under the FETA, for establishment of overall foreign exchange policies including those related to method of settlement, foreign exchange transactions, payments for non-merchandise transactions and capital transactions.

The Bank of Korea, as the central bank, holds and manages the nation's foreign exchange reserves and formulates, in cooperation with the MOSF, foreign exchange policy. The Bank is charged by the MOSF with the management of certain transactions related to visible and invisible foreign trade and capital movements. The Bank is also authorized to supervise foreign exchange brokers, as well as to oversee foreign exchange transactions through a computer network system.

The Financial Supervisory Commission supervises financial institutions engaging in foreign exchange business, through prudential regulation.
Foreign exchange banks, including all foreign bank branches in Korea, engage in international commercial banking and dealings in foreign exchange. They are authorized to process most of the transactions listed in the FETA. Especially, any person intending to execute certain kinds of transactions such as personal remittances, foreign currency borrowings from nonresidents, and overseas direct investments is required to designate a correspondent bank and to carry out those transactions only through that designated bank.

Customs offices also perform, as administrative bodies, functions specifically allotted by the FETA such as permission of export and import of means of payment, examination of exporters and importers, and supervision of the money changers.