6 Korean Banks Selected as Private Participants in Agora Project

BIS·IIF Selected as Private Institutions for Agora Project
6 Banks Including Kookmin, KEB Hana, NongHyup, Shinhan, Woori, and Hana

The Bank of Korea announced on the 16th that the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the International Institute of Finance (IIF) have selected about 40 private institutions to participate in the Agora Project. In South Korea, a total of six banks, including Kookmin Bank, IBK, and NongHyup Bank, were selected as private participants.

The IIF is a leading global financial association with over 400 member firms, including commercial banks, investment banks, asset management companies, and hedge funds, across more than 60 countries worldwide.

The Agora Project is a study exploring the potential to improve the efficiency of cross-border payments by utilizing tokenized bank deposits and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) for institutions.

The project involves central banks and private institutions from seven countries, including the five major reserve currency countries?the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Switzerland?as well as South Korea and Mexico.

In this selection, South Korea’s six banks?Kookmin Bank, IBK, NongHyup Bank, Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank, and Hana Bank?were chosen as private participants.

The Agora Project is now entering the design phase. If the Agora Project is successfully commercialized, it will enable real-time cross-border remittances 24/7, 365 days a year, overcoming previous limitations caused by differing operating hours and regulations.