Blue Ocean opens office in Seoul, seeks to regain trust of Korean investors

Buildings of Korea's financial district in Yeouido, Seoul / gettyimagesbank

New York-based fintech company, Blue Ocean Technologies, which supports global investors in trading after U.S. market trading hours, has opened a new office in Seoul.

The company said on Wednesday that its new office will serve as a regional hub for North Asia-Pacific, encompassing Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China.

The new office is located in Yeouido, the financial hub of Korea. Kim Suk-joon, former representative director of London Stock Exchange Group Korea, has been appointed as vice president of Blue Ocean Technologies and head of North Asia-Pacific.

The U.S. company also has an office in Tokyo, Japan.

Industry insiders suggest that the opening of the Korean office is a strategic move to regain the trust of the domestic market, as more than half of the company's trading volume is believed to come from Korean investors.

Korean brokerage houses used to offer daytime trading for investors through the U.S. firm’s flagship service, Blue Ocean Session, which enables investors in Asia to trade stocks registered on the U.S. National Market System during U.S. nighttime hours when the U.S. stock market is closed.

However, the service has been suspended since August last year following the Black Monday market crash. At that time, a surge of sell orders flooded in before the U.S. market opened. In response, Blue Ocean abruptly halted its services, and some orders were unilaterally canceled, even after being executed, resulting in financial losses for investors.

Domestic securities firms have since demanded measures to prevent a recurrence, leading to the suspension of daytime trading for over five months.

According to the U.S. firm, Kim has over 25 years of experience in financial markets, with expertise spanning global equity and derivatives exchange trading, financial data services and artificial intelligence-driven financial solutions.

“Kim is poised to serve as a key driver of Blue Ocean’s growth in the North Asia-Pacific region. We are confident that Blue Ocean will strengthen its presence across the region and continue to deliver connectivity to investors globally,” Blue Ocean Technologies CEO and President Brian Hyndman said.

Kim, for his part, said, “As head of North Asia-Pacific, I will lead the business development across the North Asia-Pacific region by providing unique value to our customers in Korea, Hong Kong, China and Taiwan.”