Lee Sun-ho, President of Korea Securities Depository, "Full Digitization of General Meeting Process... Service from 2026"

1st Anniversary Press Conference
Integrated Government Bond Account System for Foreigners' Korean Bond Investment to Open in June

The Korea Securities Depository (KSD) announced that it will digitize the entire process of the regular general shareholders' meeting and start providing the service from 2026. The International Central Securities Depository (ICSD) integrated government bond account system, aimed at encouraging foreign investment in Korean government bonds, will also officially launch in June this year.

Lee Sun-ho, President of the Korea Securities Depository, is delivering opening remarks at a press conference held on the 7th. (Provided by Korea Securities Depository)

On the 7th, at a press conference held in Yeouido, Seoul, marking his first anniversary in office, KSD President Lee Soon-ho said, "We will establish an electronic shareholders' meeting management system to provide electronic voting, securities agency, and securities information services."

An electronic shareholders' meeting refers to a method where all or some shareholders can participate in the meeting via electronic communication means without physically attending the meeting venue. The electronic shareholders' meeting is one of KSD's major projects this year, with the goal of building the system by the second half of next year.

To this end, KSD established a dedicated team on the 4th of this month to build an investor support platform. President Lee said, "To respond to changes in the financial environment, we have started consulting on Business Process Reengineering (BPR) and Information Strategy Planning (ISP). We will derive a concrete business model and proceed with system development."

Once the system is in place and the Commercial Act is amended, the service is expected to be available from the 2026 regular general shareholders' meeting. President Lee added, "The government is strongly committed to promoting electronic shareholders' meetings. We are visiting companies to gather related opinions. For smaller companies, it is expected that a parallel electronic shareholders' meeting method will be used."

Additionally, KSD plans to unveil the ICSD integrated government bond account system in June. This is an integrated account opened by the ICSD for foreign investors in the investment country. Foreign investors can easily purchase and manage Korean government bonds through the integrated account opened at KSD.

Kwon Ui-jin, head of KSD's Global Division, said, "Last August, we signed main contracts with the two major ICSDs, Euroclear and Clearstream, and are developing a computer system capable of real-time linkage. We have started international promotion targeting foreign investors. All development is expected to be completed by April this year."

As a new type of securities electronic registration agency, KSD also plans to support item information management, issuance, distribution, cancellation registration, and exercise of rights. On the 8th, it will hold a business briefing session on the new securities electronic registration system for account management institutions and fractional investment operators.

Following this, KSD plans to launch the electronic registration system in the first half of the year and promote the second phase of development for the new securities electronic registration system in the second half, including the development of auxiliary programs such as monitoring screens. Park Moon-gyu, head of KSD's Electronic Registration Division, said, "It is expected that new securities will eventually be converted into token securities. Through new securities electronic registration, we will support the growth of the fractional investment market and protect the assets of individual investors."

Measures to include Korea in the World Government Bond Index (WGBI) are also being pursued. If Korean government bonds are included in the WGBI, foreign funds tracking the index will flow into the government bond market, enhancing the credibility of government bonds. The Ministry of Economy and Finance estimates that about 90 trillion won will flow into the domestic bond market due to WGBI inclusion.

Furthermore, KSD announced plans to prepare countermeasures for the shortening of the settlement cycle in the U.S. securities market. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will shorten the settlement cycle from 'Trade Date (T) + 2 days' to 'T+1' starting May 28.

In response, KSD plans to change working hours, including early shifts and Saturday work for responsible staff, to alleviate investor inconvenience. The system will also be improved to process about 70,000 settlement instructions within one hour.

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