Korea Investment & Securities and Mirae Asset Securities are expected to become the first integrated money account (IMA) operators. The Securities and Futures Commission of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) also passed Kiwoom Securities' application for authorization to issue short-term notes (short-term finance).
According to the Financial Services Commission (FSC) on the 12th, the Securities and Futures Commission deliberated and resolved at its regular meeting on the agenda to designate Korea Investment & Securities and Mirae Asset Securities as comprehensive financial investment firms (investment banks) with equity capital of at least 8 trillion won.
The two companies are expected to become IMA operators after a resolution at the FSC's regular meeting. It has been about four months since filing in July. The birth of an IMA operator comes eight years after the system was introduced.
The agenda to designate Kiwoom Securities as a comprehensive financial investment firm with equity capital of at least 4 trillion won and to authorize its issuance of short-term notes was also approved at the Securities and Futures Commission's regular meeting. If Kiwoom Securities receives final authorization at the FSC's regular meeting going forward, it will become the fifth short-term note issuer.
Kiwoom Securities completed the Financial Supervisory Service's review process faster than Hana, Shinhan, Samsung, and Meritz Securities, which also applied for authorization.
Earlier, Lee Eog-weon, chair of the Financial Services Commission, said at a press briefing that "I think the first designation case may come within this month."
The IMA is a system in which a securities firm assumes the obligation to repay principal and seeks revenue by investing customer deposits in corporate finance-related asset (70% or more), among others.