Regulatory overview · Not legal advice

Publishing Verified Trader Performance — South Korea Regulatory Overview

How NakedPnL is positioned in South Korea under the FSC, FSS, the FSCMA, the Virtual Asset User Protection Act 2024, and the PIPA personal-data framework.

By NakedPnL Research·May 7, 2026·11 min read

TL;DR

NakedPnL is not licensed by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) or supervised by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) under the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act (FSCMA) as a discretionary investment business or an investment advisory business.
The investment advisory business definition under FSCMA Article 6(7) requires a contractual investment advisory relationship; impersonal published content is positioned outside it.
Crypto-assets are governed by the Virtual Asset User Protection Act (VAUPA) effective 19 July 2024 and the Specified Financial Information Act (SFIA); NakedPnL does not provide a virtual asset service.
Personal data of Korean residents is processed under the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) and Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) guidance.
South Korea is not in the platform's lib/jurisdictions.ts mapping; Korean users see the default disclaimer variant.

NakedPnL operates a public registry of verified investment performance produced by individual traders who voluntarily connect read-only exchange API keys or sign on-chain wallet attestations. Daily NAV snapshots feed a time-weighted return (TWR) calculation; results are recorded in an append-only, SHA-256 chained ledger and Merkle-anchored to Bitcoin via OpenTimestamps so any third party can independently re-verify them.

This page describes how that activity is positioned under Korean law, with reference to the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act (FSCMA, 자본시장과 금융투자업에 관한 법률), the Virtual Asset User Protection Act (VAUPA, 가상자산 이용자 보호 등에 관한 법률), the Specified Financial Information Act (SFIA), and the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA, 개인정보 보호법).

How NakedPnL is classified in South Korea

NakedPnL's activity is the production and distribution of factual performance data. The platform does not hold an FSC licence under FSCMA Article 12 in any of the financial investment business categories — investment trading, investment brokerage, collective investment, investment advisory, discretionary investment, or trust business — and does not appear on the FSS public register of authorised financial investment business entities.

Investment advisory business: FSCMA Article 6(7)

FSCMA Article 6(7) defines investment advisory business as the provision of advice on the value of financial investment instruments or on the formation of a judgment on investment decisions in respect of financial investment instruments, in return for compensation, on an investment advisory contract basis. Article 17 FSCMA requires registration with the FSC for entities that wish to engage in investment advisory business or discretionary investment business.

The contractual element is significant. Korean regulatory practice and FSS guidance distinguish between regulated investment advisory business — provided under an investment advisory contract — and impersonal information dissemination, including newspapers, periodicals, and information service providers (Article 7(4) FSCMA explicitly excludes certain publishers from the regulated definition where they provide unsolicited information to a generality of persons through publications or broadcasts).

NakedPnL does not enter into investment advisory contracts with users. The platform does not provide advice on the value of financial investment instruments and does not provide advice intended to inform a specific client's investment decisions. The same registry data is shown to every reader of a given page. On those facts, the platform's analysis is that the activity does not engage the FSCMA Article 6(7) perimeter.

Discretionary investment business and other categories

FSCMA Article 6(8) defines discretionary investment business as the operation of a portfolio on a discretionary basis under a discretionary investment contract. NakedPnL does not operate any client portfolio. Each trader's reported performance is the result of trading on the trader's own exchange or wallet account; there is no discretionary or non-discretionary mandate.

FSCMA Article 6(2) and (3) define investment trading business and investment brokerage business; Article 6(4) defines collective investment business; Article 6(6) defines trust business. NakedPnL does not engage in any of those activities. It does not deal as principal, does not match orders, does not pool capital, and does not act as trustee.

Crypto-assets: VAUPA and SFIA

The Virtual Asset User Protection Act (VAUPA) entered into force on 19 July 2024. It establishes a user-protection regime for virtual asset service providers (VASPs), including obligations on segregated custody of user assets, deposit insurance for user funds, market-abuse prohibitions for virtual assets, and FSS supervisory authority. VAUPA applies in addition to the existing Specified Financial Information Act (SFIA, 특정 금융거래정보의 보고 및 이용 등에 관한 법률), which has required AML/CFT registration of VASPs since March 2021.

NakedPnL is not a VASP under either VAUPA or SFIA. It does not custody virtual assets, does not exchange fiat for virtual assets, does not transfer virtual assets between users, and does not match buy and sell orders. Read-only API keys and on-chain wallet attestations do not confer custody or order-routing authority. On those facts, the platform's analysis is that it does not require VASP registration under SFIA Article 7 or VAUPA.

What NakedPnL does not do

No copy trading. The platform cannot replicate a trader's positions into another user's account.
No investment advisory business under FSCMA Article 6(7). No investment advisory contracts.
No discretionary investment business under FSCMA Article 6(8).
No investment trading or investment brokerage business.
No collective investment or trust business.
No virtual asset service provider activity under VAUPA or SFIA.
No custody of crypto-assets, fiat, or financial instruments.
No public offering of securities under FSCMA Articles 119 et seq.

These design choices are encoded as feature flags in the codebase and protected by a continuous-integration test that fails the build if any flag is changed.

What Korean users should know

Korean users should treat the registry as factual performance data. Past performance does not necessarily indicate future results — a phrase the FSC requires regulated firms to display alongside past-performance information. NakedPnL applies an equivalent statement on every trader profile.

If a third party offers to manage your money based on a NakedPnL track record, that party is responsible for its own FSC registration. Check the FSS's electronic disclosure system (전자공시시스템) and the FSC's list of registered financial investment business entities before transacting with any firm that holds itself out as authorised. NakedPnL does not vouch for any third-party manager.

Personal data: PIPA and the PIPC

The Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA, 개인정보 보호법, Act No. 10465 of 29 March 2011, as amended including by the 2023 amendment introducing significant cross-border transfer rules and a stand-alone right of explanation for automated decision-making) regulates the collection, use, and protection of personal information in Korea. The Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) is the supervisory authority and issues guidance, model contractual clauses for cross-border transfers, and enforcement decisions.

Lawful processing under PIPA generally requires either consent or a specific legal basis listed in PIPA Article 15. The platform relies on contract performance for users with an account, on legitimate operational purposes for minimal aggregated analytics, and on explicit consent for the public listing of a trader's handle and TWR series in the registry. Withdrawing public-listing consent removes the registry entry from public endpoints. Users can exercise rights under PIPA Article 35 et seq. (access, correction, suspension, deletion) through the privacy contact, and may complain to the PIPC.

Tax considerations

NakedPnL is not a Korean financial intermediary and does not produce tax certificates. Capital gains for individuals on listed Korean equities are subject to specific rules under the Income Tax Act (소득세법); offshore investment gains and crypto-asset gains follow distinct regimes. Crypto-asset gains taxation has been deferred multiple times — the most recent legislative position should be checked with a Certified Tax Accountant (세무사) at the time of filing. A 세무사 (semusa) is the right resource for specific questions.

Disclaimer variant for South Korea

South Korea is not currently mapped in lib/jurisdictions.ts; users with a Korean IP fall through to the default disclaimer variant, which presents the standard publisher disclaimer without an EU- or UK-specific notice. The default variant is intentionally conservative and emphasises that NakedPnL is a publisher of verified factual data, not a financial-services provider. A Korea-specific variant may be added once the platform completes a more detailed Korean legal review.

Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions

Is NakedPnL licensed by the FSC?

No. NakedPnL does not hold a financial investment business licence under FSCMA Article 12 in any of the categories — investment trading, investment brokerage, collective investment, investment advisory, discretionary investment, or trust business — and does not appear on the FSS public register.

Does the platform conduct an investment advisory business under FSCMA Article 6(7)?

No. The platform does not enter into investment advisory contracts with users and does not provide advice on the value of financial investment instruments or on a specific client's investment decisions. The same registry data is shown to every reader of a given page. On that basis, the platform's analysis is that the activity is impersonal information dissemination rather than investment advisory business.

Does VAUPA or SFIA require NakedPnL to register as a Virtual Asset Service Provider?

No. NakedPnL does not custody virtual assets, does not exchange fiat for virtual assets, does not transfer virtual assets between users, and does not match buy and sell orders. Read-only API keys and on-chain wallet attestations confer no custody or order-routing authority. On that basis, the platform's analysis is that it does not require VASP registration under SFIA Article 7 or VAUPA.

Do the publication exemptions for newspapers and periodicals apply?

Article 7(4) FSCMA contains exemption-style provisions for certain forms of impersonal information dissemination through publications and broadcasts, subject to conditions. The platform's analysis is that its activity is general factual reporting rather than a regulated investment advisory business; whether a specific exemption is engaged is a fact-specific question that should be confirmed with Korean counsel.

How do I exercise my PIPA rights as a Korean resident?

Traders can withdraw their public-listing consent from account settings, which removes the registry entry from public endpoints. For broader rights under PIPA Article 35 et seq. — including access, correction, deletion, and suspension of processing — contact the privacy team via the channel listed in the privacy notice. Complaints may be addressed to the PIPC.

If a Korean financial investment business entity wants to advertise NakedPnL track records, can it?

That is for the licensed entity and its compliance function to assess against the FSCMA, the FSS-supervised marketing rules, and the past-performance presentation guidance. Where virtual assets are involved, additional duties apply under VAUPA. NakedPnL does not approve those communications.

References