Last week NongHyup Bank announced that three other commercial banks are joining its security token alliance. They are Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank and Industrial Bank of Korea. In terms of balance sheet assets, the banks rank as number three, four and five in Korea respectively, and NongHyup is the sixth largest.
The consortium was created in April with local banks Suhyup and Jeonbuk as well as six fractional investment firms, the Korea Herald reported. Three more firms joined last week alongside the three banks.
Many Korean security token alliances are different from Western initiatives that primarily have an institutional focus. In Korea, several of the collaborations will target retail distribution.
A flurry of security token activity followed the announcement in February by Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) regarding its direction. It said existing securities rules will apply to security tokens, but it will add new rules in a couple of areas.
NongHyup Bank’s consortium is one of several security token alliances recently formed in Korea. Today Korea Investment & Securities, Korea’s largest securities firm, announced it would work with blockchain firm Open Asset to develop a DLT system for security tokens. Shinhan Securities is collaborating with Lamda256 to build its platform.
In March, Mirae Assets collaborated with SK Telecom for security tokens, and at the start of this month, Hana Financial Group joined that alliance.
Meanwhile, KB Securities’ initiative hopes to tokenize various assets, from beef to artwork and copyrights. Last month it said it planned to apply for sandbox participation for renewable energy assets and copyright related projects.
