Republic of Korea: Announced amendments to Fair Transactions in Large-scale Retail Business Act

On 18 October 2024, the Korean Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced Amendments to the Fair Transactions in Large-scale Retail Business Act to prevent the recurrence of non-settlement incidents and to restore fairness in the online intermediary market. In particular, the proposed changes focus on improving fairness and transparency in the online intermediary market. The amendments will classify large online intermediary platforms with intermediary revenue exceeding 10 billion KRW or a transaction volume over 1 trillion KRW as large-scale distributors. These platforms will be required to settle payments within 20 days from the purchase confirmation date to ensure prompt payment to vendors. In addition, the platforms must manage at least 50% of the sales revenue in separate financial accounts or through payment guarantee insurance to ensure the safety of the funds. This approach is designed to protect vendors and small businesses from potential financial losses due to delayed payments or platform insolvency.