Korean brokerages to resume US daytime stock trading in November with stronger safeguards

Korean brokerages will restart their suspended daytime trading service for U.S. stocks in November, after the program was put on hold in August last year, industry and government officials said Wednesday. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the country’s financial watchdog, said it will ensure that adequate safeguards are in place to protect investors before the relaunch, while also vowing strict measures in the event of any large-scale system failures. The service allows local investors to buy and sell U.S. stocks during Korea’s daytime hours. Introduced by Samsung Securities in February 2022, it was later expanded to 18 brokerages, with all transactions processed through Blue Ocean ATS (alternative trading system), which is operated by New York-based fintech company Blue Ocean Technologies. However, Blue Ocean ATS experienced a system malfunction on Aug. 5 last year, which came to be known as Black Monday, resulting in the unilateral cancellation of investor orders. Following the incident, Korean brokerages collectively decided to suspend the service on Aug. 16. “After the ma