Lee Sun-ho, CEO of Korea Securities Depository, "Strengthening Token Securities Platform Capabilities... Will Be the Cornerstone for the Next 50 Years"

100-Day Inauguration Press Conference Held
"Strengthening New Growth Projects Centered on Next KSD Promotion Team"

Lee Sun-ho, President of the Korea Securities Depository (KSD), stated, “We will focus on new growth businesses such as the token securities platform and the establishment of next-generation systems, as well as strengthening KSD’s IT capabilities,” adding, “As the capital market is undergoing significant changes overall, we will grow together as a market-oriented company.”

Lee Sun-ho, President of the Korea Securities Depository, is speaking about the major business plans for 2023 at the '2023 CEO Press Conference' held on the 14th in Yeouido, Seoul.

On the 14th, President Lee held a press briefing with reporters in Yeouido, Seoul, marking his 100th day in office. He said, “This is for the next 50 years of KSD’s future,” and explained, “The newly established Next KSD Task Force will be at the center of this.”

The Next KSD Task Force is an organization leading the construction of the token securities platform and the next-generation system. Last month, President Lee reorganized the structure by reducing it to seven headquarters and established the Next KSD Task Force as a headquarters-level organization. Recently, as financial authorities decided to bring tokenized securities into the regulatory framework and KSD is assigned the roles of issuance review and total volume management, it was deemed necessary to have an organization specialized in handling these tasks.

In the second half of the year, the business model and construction plan for the token securities platform will be established and announced. President Lee said, “We will accommodate the electronic registration of various trust beneficiary certificates,” and added, “Since opinions differ greatly among technology companies and securities firms participating in the Token Securities Council, we will work to coordinate these views and establish a system.”

The task force will also focus on building a next-generation innovative financial platform. Considering that IT companies such as Kakao and Toss are growing into comprehensive financial service platforms and that various beneficiary certificates such as real estate and artworks are traded in the form of token securities, it was judged that digital-based business innovation is necessary. Kim Min-su, head of the Next KSD Task Force, said, “We will create a smart work environment and workplace that can flexibly respond to internal and external changes,” and added, “By January 2026, we will first build the global investment support system part of the business system and then reconstruct the entire business system.”

This year, KSD will also focus on establishing an integrated national bond account with the International Central Securities Depository (ICSD). This aims to improve the investment environment for foreign investors in Korean government bonds and monetary stabilization bonds. Once the integrated account is established, foreign investors will be able to easily invest in government bonds through the integrated account without separate procedures. President Lee mentioned, “We are exchanging opinions regarding contract matters with the ICSD and expect to sign a contract with the ICSD in the second half of the year.”

The final approval of the Alternative Trading System (ATS) ‘NextTrade’ is also an important part of KSD’s business plan. As an institution supporting capital market settlements, KSD plans to provide settlement services for NextTrade just like existing exchanges. This is a point where existing settlement support tasks can be further expanded. President Lee explained, “As exchanges enter a competitive system, capital market efficiency can be enhanced,” and added, “Since we have a 2% equity stake in the ATS, we plan to proactively discuss what roles we can play beyond providing settlement services.”

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