Korea Investment & Securities Joins Hands with KakaoBank and TossBank for STO Alliance

Token Securities Council 'Korea Investment ST Friends' Formed

Korea Investment & Securities, a subsidiary of Korea Financial Group, announced on the 22nd that it has formed the token securities consortium 'Korea Investment ST Friends' together with internet-only banks KakaoBank and Toss Bank, and will actively work on building a token securities ecosystem.

Korea Investment ST Friends consists of Korea Investment & Securities as the core, with KakaoBank and Toss Bank participating as pilot financial institution partners for the distributed ledger (blockchain) that will record token securities. Kakao Enterprise, recognized for its technological expertise through its participation in the Bank of Korea's central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot project, has joined as the technology partner for building the distributed ledger.

As financial authorities push for the institutionalization of token securities, collaborations led by fractional investment companies and blockchain firms have been emerging one after another. Korea Investment ST Friends is the first case formed centered on financial institutions. With the opening of a new market for token securities, KakaoBank and Toss Bank, which have led fintech in the banking industry, and Korea Investment & Securities, a leader in the Korean capital market, have joined forces with the goal of building the infrastructure for a token securities issuance platform.

Korea Investment & Securities plans to establish the distributed ledger infrastructure for issuance within this year and complete stability and security testing. Based on Korea Investment & Securities' issuance capabilities and the platform strengths of KakaoBank and Toss Bank, they will supply token securities products in earnest. After establishing the initial ecosystem, they intend to encourage participation from competitive fractional investment companies. Their goal is to expand into the nation's top token securities ecosystem prioritizing investor protection and system stability.

A representative from Korea Investment & Securities stated, "Building an issuance infrastructure capable of supplying products suitable for token securities is the first step in forming the token securities ecosystem," and added, "We will create synergy among partners by combining Kakao Enterprise's stable IT infrastructure technology, the platform competitiveness of KakaoBank and Toss Bank, and Korea Investment & Securities' deal sourcing capabilities."