S. Korea to review night trading of Treasury bond futures

South Korea’s finance minister said Monday the country will review adopting night-hour trading of Treasury bond futures as it aims to have its government bond market included in a major global index.

“To manage risks surrounding overseas market fluctuations, we plan to review the adoption of night hour trading of three-year and 10-year Korea Treasury bond futures,” Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said during an event co-hosted with Yonhap Infomax, the financial arm of Yonhap News Agency.

The remark came in line with the government’s efforts to participate in the World Government Bond Index (WGBI), a broad index designed to measure the performance of government bond markets, including the local currencies and sovereign bonds of major advanced nations.

In September this year, London-based FTSE Russell said South Korea will remain on the watch list for a potential upgrade in the FTSE WGBI to be published in March 2024.

“We plan to further revamp the bond market by adopting the 30-year Korea Treasury bond futures by March next year,” Choo added.

The finance minister noted that South Korea will abolish the investment registration certificate for foreign investors starting this week to make the market more accessible and meet global standards.

Starting in January, the country will also allow foreign companies’ participation in the domestic foreign exchange market, he added.