Seoul, Sep 15 (IANS) The Korea Exchange (KRX), South Korea’s main bourse operator, said on Monday it has opened an office in New York, as part of efforts to strengthen its presence in the North America region.

An opening ceremony for the KRX office in the Manhattan borough will be held on Monday (local time), with the head of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) and officials from global financial institutions in attendance, reports Yonhap news agency.

The office aims to strengthen marketing and networking with institutional investors, brokerages and global financial institutions located in the city, the KRX added.

“We plan to provide information necessary for investors in the North America area promptly, while listening to various voices on the scene and implementing them in the local market,” the KRX’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jeong Eun-bo said.

Following the opening of the New York office, the KRX now holds offices in the world’s four central financial hotspots, including Singapore, Beijing and London.

Jeong was also set to sign a memorandum of understanding with Xpansive Ltd., a California-based carbon credit brokerage.

He will also hold separate meetings with Lynne Fitzpatrick, president of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), and Creg Donahue, CEO of Cboe Global Markets Inc., a Chicago-based options exchange, to discuss bilateral cooperation in the derivatives market, the KRX added.

Meanwhile, the country’s financial watchdog chief said on Monday that his agency will double efforts to advance the capital market as well as to safeguard financial customers.

In a meeting with heads of foreign financial companies operating here, Lee Chan-jin, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), also said foreign financial companies need to beef up risk management amid increased market volatility.

“Institutional support for shareholder protection and market advancement measures will elevate the confidence and attractiveness of South Korea’s capital market,” Lee said.

The FSS chief stressed that given financial products are becoming more complicated, foreign financial institutions need to further shore up the value of financial customers’ production.

“There could be differences in selling products between local financial institutions and foreign ones, but the principle of protecting customers should be firmly observed,” he said.

—IANS

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