Seven Leading Foreign Exchange Market Banks Selected Including Kookmin, Industrial, and Shinhan

The Bank of Korea and the Ministry of Economy and Finance announced on the 8th that they have selected seven foreign exchange banks as the lead banks in the 2024 won-dollar market: Kookmin Bank, Korea Development Bank, Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank, JPMorgan Chase Bank, Cr?dit Agricole Bank, and Hana Bank (in alphabetical order).

The foreign exchange authorities explained that considering the necessity of market making during nighttime hours due to the planned extension of trading hours with the formal implementation of foreign exchange market structural improvements (scheduled for July), the number of lead banks was increased by one compared to the previous year.

They also stated that the criteria for selecting lead banks were revised to balance efforts in quoting in the spot and FX swap markets and to activate trading.

Accordingly, while lead banks were previously selected based solely on two-way trading performance in the spot market, from 2024 onward, efforts in quoting in the spot market and FX swap trading performance will also be considered.

For the selection of lead banks in 2025, a higher weighting will be given to trading during the extended trading hours compared to the Seoul session.

The foreign exchange authorities emphasized that they will continue policy efforts for the successful implementation of lead banks and foreign exchange market structural improvements, as well as for the quantitative and qualitative development of the foreign exchange market.