On October 28, First Vice Minister of Economy and Finance Lee Hyoung Il convened the “Foreign Exchange (FX) Stability Council and Task Force for Korea’s Inclusion in the MSCI Developed Markets Index” meeting at the Government Complex-Seoul. At the meeting, participants reviewed the progress of the key tasks announced following the launch of the MSCI Task Force in July and discussed future plans.

 ^* Participating institutions: Ministry of Economy and Finance (chair), Financial Services Commission (FSC), Bank of Korea (BOK), Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), Korea Exchange (KRX), and Korea Securities Depository (KSD).

Above all, regarding the Plan to Enhance Securities Settlement Infrastructure announced at the meeting on August 14, relevant institutions have been widely gathering feedback from market participants through various channels – including information sessions, roundtable meetings, and surveys – to develop measures for extending the operating hours of the BOK-Wire+ system and the KSD’s e-SAFE (settlement system for bond institutions). In this process, various supplementary suggestions were made to ease the additional staffing burden caused by extended settlement hours and to ensure smooth settlement liquidity management during extended hours. Taking these into account, the relevant institutions plan to put forth detailed measures in November and proceed without delay toward implementation in April 2026.

The participants also discussed the implementation plan for the Improvement Measures for FX Market Structure announced at the Invest KOREA Summit held in New York in September. Due to its past experience with the FX crisis, Korea has so far maintained only a domestic FX market. However, this structure has made it difficult for foreign investors to access the Korean market and has limited the global investment base for Korean won-denominated assets. Accordingly, the relevant institutions reaffirmed their commitment to pushing forward reforms in a timely manner, with the goal of raising accessibility to won trading to the level of major advanced economy currencies, while preserving market stability.

The first task is to extend the current operating hours of the onshore FX market – from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. the following day – to a 24-hour trading system. To this end, participating institutions will conduct comprehensive reviews of the systems, accounting processes, human resources, and costs required for round-the-clock operation, in close consultation with brokers and market participants. The timing of implementation and detailed measures will be developed and finalized by the end of this year. In particular, measures will be pursued to enable onshore banks to secure favorable trading conditions during nighttime hours by linking their overseas branches and electronic FX (eFX) infrastructure.

Next, the authorities plan to introduce a new system, tentatively named the “Offshore KRW Settlement Institution”. Under this framework, authorized foreign financial institutions would be allowed to freely transact, hold, and raise Korean won through KRW accounts (Nostro Accounts) opened in Korea, and, using these accounts, would be institutionally permitted to conduct KRW payments and settlements between non-residents. Participating agencies plan to establish the institutional framework, including revising relevant regulations, based on a review of eligible institutions and the scope of permissible activities. In addition, separate from the existing BOK-Wire+ system, the BOK will set up a dedicated settlement network by 2026 to support 24-hour real-time gross settlement (RTGS)^* for offshore KRW settlement institutions, ensuring smooth payments and settlements even during nighttime hours.

^* A central bank-operated settlement system in which funds are settled in real time on a gross, transaction-by-transaction basis between financial institutions.

Vice Minister Lee assessed that the implementation of these FX market improvement measures would significantly enhance foreign investors’ accessibility to the Korean won. He called for close cooperation among relevant institutions to ensure swift and systematic progress. The participants also reaffirmed their commitment to advancing Korea’s FX and capital markets toward the status of a developed market, and agreed to formulate concrete action plans within this year through active communication with the market.

Please refer to the attached files.