Foreign Exchange Market Open Until 2 AM... Choi Sang-mok "Support for Leading Bank System Reform"

Good Liquidity on the First Day of Gaejang Market Extension

Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Minister of Strategy and Finance, emphasized that the active role of domestic banks is crucial for the successful early stabilization of the 'foreign exchange market structural improvement' and stated that they will actively support it through reforms such as the lead bank system.

On the night of the 1st, Deputy Prime Minister Choi visited the foreign exchange dealing room at the Hana Bank headquarters with Yoo Sang-dae, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Korea, to encourage the staff and check the trading situation. This day marked the official launch of the foreign exchange market structural improvement, allowing global financial companies authorized by foreign exchange authorities to directly participate in the domestic foreign exchange market. From this day, the foreign exchange market opening hours were extended from the previous 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM to 9:00 AM to 2:00 AM the following day.

Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Economy and Finance (second from the left), visited the headquarters of Hana Bank in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the night of the 1st to review the foreign exchange transaction situation in line with the official implementation of the foreign exchange market structural improvement.

Deputy Prime Minister Choi explained that the foreign exchange market structural improvement aims to transform the foreign exchange market, which has been operated with a focus on stability, into an open and competitive structure befitting the status of the Korean economy, which has grown to the level of advanced countries. He emphasized that the active role of domestic banks is important for the successful early establishment of the institutional improvement measures. He also promised to actively support this through reforms such as the lead bank system linked to the reduction of foreign exchange soundness burden charges.

Deputy Prime Minister Choi also checked the smooth operation of the trading system and the trading situation through a video connection with the dealing room staff of SSBT London, a foreign financial institution (RFI) based in London, and Hana Bank London. The participants evaluated that, as confirmed through pilot trading, transactions through our foreign exchange brokerage companies are being executed without problems and are traded at competitive prices compared to offshore market non-deliverable forwards (NDFs), based on good liquidity.

Domestic foreign exchange market trading continued until the closing time of 2:00 AM, with the won-dollar spot trading volume through foreign exchange brokerage companies reaching a total of 12.57 billion dollars. Among this, the trading volume after 3:30 PM on the 1st was 2.46 billion dollars. Considering that other internationalized currencies with 24-hour trading also tend to have reduced trading volumes during nighttime hours, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance evaluated this as a favorable level.