Over-the-Counter Stock Market Trading Volume Approaches First 1 Trillion Won Milestone

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] As investor interest in the Korean Over-the-Counter Stock Market (K-OTC), a trading market for unlisted stocks, increases, the annual trading volume is expected to surpass 1 trillion won for the first time ever.

According to the Korea Financial Investment Association on the 2nd, the total trading volume of K-OTC from the beginning of this year until the 28th of last month reached 955.2 billion won, showing a 97% increase compared to the same period last year (484.7 billion won).

K-OTC is one of the domestic stock markets following KOSPI, KOSDAQ, and KONEX, where unlisted companies that have not been listed can trade their stocks within a regulated market. While the trading volume was only 159 billion won in 2016, it reached 990.3 billion won last year, growing 6.6 times in three years.

This year, it is expected that the annual trading volume will exceed 1 trillion won for the first time in 15 years since the market was established in 2005, surpassing last year’s level.

The average daily trading volume has also increased, with this year’s daily average trading volume (5.13 billion won) rising 45.4% compared to last year (4.02 billion won), surpassing 5 billion won for the first time.

The number of stocks traded on K-OTC is 136, with a total market capitalization of 15.4 trillion won.

The growing interest in K-OTC is analyzed to be due to the inflow of funds into the securities market driven by increased liquidity, along with companies like SK Biopharm and Kakao Games, which have high subscription competition and limited actual allocation, providing proactive investment incentives through unlisted stocks.

Another reason for the increased interest is the tax benefits given to small shareholders. While unlisted stocks of small and medium-sized enterprises are subject to income tax on capital gains, trading on K-OTC exempts them from this tax.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.