SEOUL– An alternative trading system (ATS) will be launched in 2024 for greater efficiency and convenience in the trading of securities, a financial trade association said Tuesday.
The Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA), a major financial organization here, is currently working on details for preliminary approval within this year, Na Jae-cheol, chairman of the Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA) said in a media event in Seoul.
“Our goal is to obtain the preliminary approval within this year and have the ATS in operation by early 2024,” Na said.
Along with a slew of brokerage houses, KOFIA has been preparing for the ATS launch as a revised law on the capital market in 2013 allows the setup of an ATS.
Should the country’s first ATS be in motion, the country’s stock exchange sector may undergo an overhaul. Currently, the Korea Exchange, launched in 1956, is the country’s only national operator of the stock market.
In the past two years, the South Korean stock market enjoyed high liquidity, thanks to the mobile trading boom among retail investors.
In 2021, the local stock market has turned highly volatile, largely due to the global uncertainties from the pandemic, high inflation and the energy crunch.
Na said such factors should not delay the timeline for the establishment of a homegrown ATS.
“It is true that the stock turnover has been going down lately. But we believe that the launch of an ATS will bring much positive factors, such as a rise in liquidity, and eventually help stabilize the (trading) market,” he said.
Source: Yonhap News Agency