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| Kakao Chairman Kim Beom-su attends a hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in this March 26 file photo. / Yonhap |
By Park Jae-hyuk
Kakao is suffering a setback in starting a securities business in Korea due to government regulations, while its rival Naver has launched a stock trading service in Japan through its Tokyo-based subsidiary Line.
According to financial authorities, Tuesday, the Securities and Futures Commission under the Financial Services Commission (FSC) decided to delay its screening of KakaoPay's acquisition of Baro Investment & Securities until an appellate court makes a ruling on Kakao Chairman Kim Beom-su over his alleged violation of the Antitrust Law.
The ruling is expected to be made during the first half of 2020 at the earliest.
The commission agreed to resume the screening only if Kim is acquitted.
KakaoPay signed an agreement with Baro in October 2018 to acquire a 60 percent stake in the small brokerage firm for 40 billion won ($33 million).
In April, the mobile payment unit of Kakao submitted its application to the FSC for approval of the acquisition.
As Kim was found not guilty in his trial in May, some observers expected KakaoPay would begin its securities business soon.
The financial authorities, however, decided to wait until the appellate judgment is given, citing the prosecution's decision to appeal the verdict.
According to the regulator, the largest shareholder of a securities firm should not have a criminal record involving economic offenses.
Kakao said Kim's charge of neglecting a disclosure obligation regarding Kakao's five affiliate companies had resulted from an honest mistake as the company was not aware of some revisions in the law governing conglomerates' disclosures of their subsidiaries.
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| Line Securities operated on Line mobile messenger app / Courtesy of Line |
Naver, on the other hand, began offering a securities trading service in Japan, Aug. 20, through its subsidiary Line which operates a mobile messenger app of the same name.
Line Financial, which was set up in Japan by Line in January 2018, jointly established Line Securities Preparatory Corp. with Nomura in June that year.
The joint venture changed its name to Line Securities in June 2019 to prepare for the launch of the service.
According to Line, its users in Japan are able to trade stocks of 100 leading Japanese companies, nine domestic ETF tracking indices, real estate, Dow Jones-listed stocks, Nasdaq-listed stocks, gold and crude oil via Line Securities.
In addition, users can trade stocks for under 3,000 yen ($28) and at any time until 9 p.m. on weekdays.
"Line Securities was developed to offer a new investment service that is simple, easy, and convenient even for first-time or beginner investors, as well as being accessible on the Line messaging app with its over 81 million monthly active users in Japan," a Line official said in a press release.






































