First Vice Minister Kim Byoung-hwan, during his trip to London, visited a foreign financial institution[1] that was the first to complete the registration process for participating in the Korean foreign exchange (FX) market. He checked the progress of the ‘Improvement Measures for FX Market Structure’ initiative, which has been under a pilot operation since January.

At the time of VM Kim’s visit (14:00-15:00 February 6, London local time), FX transactions between a foreign financial institution (SSBT London) and a Korean financial institution was successfully completed during the trading hours extended until the closing time of the London market, for the first time in the history of Korea’s FX market.

VM Kim observed the transaction process and expressed his commitment to attentively listen to the opinions of relevant institutions as well as diligently enhance Korea’s FX system and trading infrastructure until the official implementation of the modified system in July to ensure that there are no inconveniences in foreign financial institutions’ FX trading.

In particular, recognizing the crucial role of London-based financial institutions as the global leaders in FX trading for the success of Korea’s FX market structural reforms, VM Kim expressed gratitude for the SSBT for being the first registered foreign institution (RFI). He also requested them to continue contributing to facilitate the Korean Won trading network in London, the global financial hub.

Local FX experts expressed their confidence that the Korean government’s measures to improve the FX market structure will succeed and that these measures are playing a pivotal role in improving the awareness of the overall Korean capital market among global investors.

Meanwhile, a pilot operation of FX trading during the extended hours was conducted among nine onshore financial institutions in Korea as well.

Currently, more than 15 foreign financial institutions have applied for RFI registration to participate in the Korean FX market. Among them, five institutions (in an alphabetical order: CA-CIB Paris, HSBC Singapore, MUFG Tokyo, SSBT London, SSBT Hong Kong) have completed the registration process.