KSD to host meeting of Asia-Pacific securities depositories

Korea Securities Depository (KSD) headquarters in Busan / Korea Times file

Korea Securities Depository (KSD) will host a meeting of the securities depositories of Asia-Pacific nations next month in Busan.

According to the KSD, it will host the 24th Asia-Pacific Central Securities Depository (CSD) Group (ACG) meeting in Busan from Nov. 7 to 10. Established in 1997, the ACG is one of five regional central securities depository groups within the World Forum of CSDs. It aims at exchanges of information as well as cooperation among the central securities depositories within the region.

Selected as its chair in 2017, the KSD successfully fulfilled its role to lead the Executive Committee of the ACG for three years. It improved the ACG's overall operations on top of strengthening exchanges with other CSD groups.

The ACG meeting has been held once a year since its inaugural meeting in Hong Kong in 1997, offering a venue for securities and depository experts in Asia-Pacific to examine their achievements and establish future goals and strategies. KSD has hosted the ACG meeting twice so far ― one in 2000 and the other in 2011. Following the next meeting in November, it will be the only member to have hosted ACG meetings three times.

The meeting in Busan, held under the main theme “Financial Industry, Navigating the Sea of Uncertainty,” will welcome around 150 guests representing ACG members, foreign financial firms and government officials. The main theme was chosen to reflect the uncertainties faced by the financial industry, including the climate crisis, war, inflation, technological innovation and the emergence of new investors. It also has two sub-themes: “Unprecedented Challenges and Creative Responses” and “Creating the Future, Driving Future-proof Innovation.”

It is the first time for the event to be held in Busan, a southeastern port city to which the KSD headquarters was relocated in 2014. KSD, which has been joining efforts to establish the city as an international financial hub, expects the meeting will be a good opportunity to promote Busan as well as Korea. Following the successful hosting of the meeting in Busan, it plans to bid to host the World Forum of Central Securities Depositories (WFC) meeting as well.

As a special program during the session, a forum on financial cooperation between Korea and Asia will be held on Nov. 8. It will introduce overseas financial cooperation as well as official development assistance (ODA) projects for developing countries in Asia. The forum is also expected to enhance Busan's status as a global financial hub on top of helping the city's bid to host the World Expo 2030, as many of the ACG members also belong to the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) and will vote to choose the host city of the World Expo 2030. (Advertorial)