South Korea Seeks to Boost Financial Markets But Faces Hurdles from Strict Regulations
• South Korea seeks to boost global profile of financial markets but struggles with tight currency restrictions that limit foreign investment • Arcane rules on cross-border transactions, daily reporting, and brokers make doing business costly and slow • Extending won trading hours to cover London is a small step; further reforms needed to attract foreign capital • Heavy focus on surveillance stems from memories of past financial crises, but overregulation deters traders • Trading rules and low volumes relative to GDP keep won in emerging market category despite advanced economy