The South Korea Financial Services Commission published a policy roadmap that extends tokenization beyond fractional investments to conventional securities and translates its earlier legal and industry work into a phased implementation plan. When the amended Electronic Securities Act takes effect on Feb. 4, 2027, the first phase will cover institution-only privately placed money market funds and corporate bonds, unlisted shares through a trust structure, and publicly offered fractional-investment securities. Later phases would expand to public securities and ultimately link stablecoins or other payment instruments for on-chain settlement, with timing dependent on operational stability, market demand and related legislation. Existing securities firms and over-the-counter trading venues will be able to handle tokenized securities within their licensed scope without a separate token-specific license, although an OTC venue must consult the Financial Supervisory Service before supporting such trading. The framework adds an OTC license category for debt securities and sets a KRW 100 million annual net-purchase limit for retail investors at each venue. Issuers seeking to manage customer securities accounts directly must hold KRW 4 billion in capital and employ account-management, internal-control and information technology specialists. New guidelines for noncash trust beneficiary securities immediately permit asset pooling and assets linked to uncertain future events when specified safeguards are met. They also address disclosure, conflicts, allocation and subscription limits, using the lower of KRW 30 million or 5% of an offering as a standard retail example. Draft subordinate rules are due by the end of September, while the Korea Securities Depository and securities firms will build infrastructure for the first phase under newly issued distributed-ledger standards.
2026-09-04South Korea Financial Services Commission
South Korea Financial Services Commission sets phased tokenized securities rollout starting in February 2027
The South Korea Financial Services Commission set a phased tokenized securities roadmap beginning in February 2027 with institution-only private funds and bonds, trust-based unlisted shares and public fractional-investment securities. Existing intermediaries may operate within their current licenses, while retail OTC purchases will be capped at KRW 100 million annually per venue and issuer account managers must hold KRW 4 billion in capital. The plan advances the legal framework toward implementation and introduces immediate investor-protection guidelines for noncash trust beneficiary securities.