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FSC Grants Preliminary Approval for Over-the-Counter Fractional Investment Trading Platform; Busan Metropolitan City Secures Korea’s First Dedicated Secondary-Market Exchange for Fractional Investment

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that, following the Financial Services Commission’s preliminary approval decision for an “over-the-counter fractional investment trading platform,” it has secured in Busan the nation’s first exchange dedicated to secondary-market trading of fractional investments (the KDX Consortium*).

• ●The Korea Exchange and Koscom, among others

This preliminary approval decision was made under the newly introduced “licensing system for over-the-counter fractional investment trading platforms,” established by the Financial Services Commission to ensure smooth secondary-market trading of fractional investment securities and to strengthen investor protection. At its regular meeting today (the 13th), the Financial Services Commission announced that it had granted preliminary approval to the KDX Consortium, which is organized around the Korea Exchange (KRX) and Koscom, among others.

Based on demonstrations of blockchain technologies as well as policy initiatives and research, the City has maintained ongoing communication and cooperation with the Korea Exchange (KRX) and fractional-investment project operators in the blockchain special zone, among others, in order to lay the groundwork for a variety of fractional investment securities to be traded stably within the regulated financial system.

The KDX Consortium is a large-scale consortium with participation from more than 40 institutions, including 24 domestic securities firms, fractional investment operators, fintech, blockchain, and information technology (IT) security companies.

The consortium has a stable financial foundation, with paid-in capital exceeding KRW 90 billion, and possesses top-tier capabilities nationwide to build trading infrastructure.

In particular, many financial and digital companies based in Busan—such as BNK Investment & Securities, Busan Bank, and Gyeongnam Bank—are participating, further strengthening linkages with local industries.

Busan Metropolitan City has been operating the Busan Blockchain Regulation-Free Special Zone, the only one of its kind currently designated and in operation nationwide, and has been implementing demonstration projects in phases, including digital identification, digital vouchers, and fractional real estate investment. Through this process, the City has accumulated experience in the blockchain and digital finance sectors, and this achievement is evaluated as the result of these policy efforts being connected to institutional financial market infrastructure.

The consortium plans to establish the headquarters of the dedicated fractional investment exchange in Busan and to build the exchange’s core IT system within this year.

This will serve as a case of establishing new financial functions and systems in Busan based on the experience accumulated through the Blockchain Regulation-Free Special Zone, and it is also expected to generate spillover effects on the local economy through the inflow of specialized talent (planning, technology development, marketing, and more).

Furthermore, this achievement is expected to go beyond the simple establishment of an institution, serving as an opportunity for Busan to expand capital market infrastructure based on digital assets and blockchain.

Fractional investment securities are financial products that issue and distribute digital securities backed by various real assets such as real estate, copyrights, and artworks, and they are expected to contribute to revitalizing fundraising and innovating the capital market.

In particular, as Busan will be able to issue products linked to its specialized local industries—such as shipping, ports, automobiles, machinery, tourism, and culture—the growth foundation across local industries is also expected to be strengthened.

In addition, as the entire ecosystem across the transaction life cycle—issuance, distribution, custody, operation, and financial support for fractional investment securities—becomes concentrated in Busan, the City’s standing as a digital finance city is also expected to be reinforced.

Mayor Park Heong-joon stated, “Securing a fractional investment exchange in Busan is the result of our steady efforts to build a digital finance ecosystem—through attracting companies, building infrastructure, and nurturing talent—as a blockchain special-zone city, in response to Yeouido, the traditional center of finance,” adding, “Going forward, we will do our utmost, in close cooperation with relevant institutions such as the Financial Services Commission and the Korea Exchange, to ensure that tokenized securities and the digital finance industry can take root in Busan in a stable manner.”