Kakaopay Securities has obtained a license for investment trading (securities) and will expand its business into initial public offering (IPO) underwriting and the public offering market.
Kakaopay Securities said on the 13th that financial authorities approved on the 1st the application for an additional registration of business units in the financial investment business (1-1-1 investment trading·securities).
With this license, Kakaopay Securities can now underwrite, trade, and sell marketable securities using its own capital in addition to its existing brokerage of marketable securities. The company noted it has laid the groundwork to expand from a brokerage-centered structure to investment banking (IB).
The biggest change is that IPO underwriting and acquisition work has become possible. Accordingly, it has also secured the legal basis for a public offering subscription service.
The product lineup will also be expanded. It can diversify investor-facing products such as retail bond trading and fractional trading at home and abroad, and it will be able to expand sales and trading (S&T), participate as a liquidity provider (LP) for exchange-traded funds (ETF), and diversify bond management, all using its own capital.
Kakaopay Securities plans to strengthen synergies between its retail and IB businesses with this license. It aims to enhance its business competitiveness by adding product supply capabilities using its own capital to the retail customer base it has built up.
Chief Executive Shin Ho-cheol of Kakaopay Securities said, "With this investment trading license, we have laid the groundwork to grow into a full-service securities company that not only brokers but also directly underwrites and supplies products," and added, "We will create Kakaopay Securities' unique, differentiated synergy by combining our large retail user base with IB capabilities."