Domestic Foreign Exchange Market to Open 24 Hours Starting July 6

Foreign Exchange Soundness Council and MSCI Developed Markets Index Inclusion Task Force Held

70 Percent of Inclusion Tasks to Be Completed in the First Half of the Year

Offshore Won Settlement Network to Begin Full Operation in January Next Year

Ministry of Finance and Economy

The Ministry of Finance and Economy announced on May 21 that it will implement 28 out of 39 tasks aimed at inclusion in the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Developed Markets (DM) Index within the first half of the year.

Heo Jang, Second Vice Minister of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, presided over a meeting of the "Foreign Exchange Soundness Council and MSCI Developed Markets Index Inclusion Task Force (TF)" held at the Bankers' Club in Seoul on the same day. During the meeting, he reviewed the progress of the "Comprehensive Roadmap for Foreign Exchange and Capital Markets for Inclusion in the MSCI Developed Markets Index" (hereinafter referred to as the roadmap) and discussed plans for moving forward.

The foreign exchange authorities are pushing to advance the Korean stock market with the goal of having it included as a Watch List candidate for Developed Markets in next month's annual market classification by MSCI, and to be formally included in the Developed Markets Index in June next year.

Relevant agencies have so far completed 25 out of the 39 tasks in the eight key areas of the roadmap announced last month, and plan to implement three additional tasks by June, thus fulfilling more than 70 percent, or 28 tasks, within the first half of the year.

Since the review by the task force in February, relevant agencies have implemented measures to improve market accessibility, including enhancements to account and settlement systems, investor identification, English-language disclosures, and accessibility to derivatives products.

Regarding the 24-hour opening of the domestic foreign exchange market, authorities are preparing for a pilot trading session on June 29 and the official launch on July 6. For the offshore won payment network, IT testing is scheduled for June, a pilot operation for September, and full-scale operation is targeted for January next year.

Vice Minister Heo commented, "Most of the roadmap tasks are being implemented as planned, and with supplementary measures prepared in close coordination by relevant agencies to address additional challenges identified through investor meetings and advisory committees, we have elicited positive responses from investors."

At the meeting, a reform plan for the system for overseas foreign exchange business institutions (RFIs) was also finalized, as one of the roadmap tasks. The registration process for corporations and branches conducting only simple transactions without transactions in their own names will be streamlined, and the reporting deadline for RFI sanctions will be extended from 7 days to 30 business days. These changes will be reflected next month through revisions to the "Guidelines on Foreign Exchange Business of Foreign Financial Institutions."

MSCI classifies the world's major stock markets into four broad groups every year: Developed Markets, Emerging Markets, Frontier Markets, and Standalone Markets. The MSCI Developed Markets Index is a global stock index composed of leading listed companies from Developed Markets. Currently, Korea remains classified as an Emerging Market.

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