It has been a long-time aspiration in Seoul that South Korea, a wealthy nation with $35,000 gross domestic product per capita, joins index provider MSCI¡¯s elite club of developed markets. That dream may finally become a reality this summer.
Last year, Seoul¡¯s wishes were once again brushed aside. MSCI lectured the government on its unfriendly market practices, including a short-selling ban put in place at the onset of the pandemic, a lack of currency trading offshore and insufficient information flow ¡ª especially for foreign investors.
But now there is hope that at its next meeting in June, MSCI might just put Korea on a fast track for developed status. In recent months, President Yoon Suk-yeol¡¯s government has been trying to improve its image and acknowledged Korea¡¯s ¡°outdated regulations.¡± It promised to scrap foreign investor registration, a cumbersome process MSCI has frowned upon. It will open up currency trading to foreign firms by extending market hours until 2 a.m. from the current 3:30 p.m. It may even consider lifting the short-selling ban this year, the nation¡¯s financial watchdog said in March.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.