South Korea sets July deadline for tokenized securities rules

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission plans to release detailed tokenized securities rules in July. 

The rules will support the amended Capital Markets Act and Electronic Securities Act, which are scheduled to take effect on February 4, 2027.

The FSC discussed the plan at the second public-private tokenized securities council meeting on May 15. Local reports said the council reviewed issuance, trading, settlement and infrastructure rules before the legal framework starts.

Fractional products may get wider scope

The FSC is preparing to allow some fractional investment products to pool similar underlying assets. Current rules limit many fractional products to a single asset, such as one property. The new approach could allow a portfolio-style product made from the same type of asset.

FSC Vice Chairman Kwon Dae-young said the authority will pursue a plan to allow pooled issuance within a set range while keeping market order and investor protection as basic conditions. He also said the final model for fractional investment issuance is targeted for July after industry feedback.

Moreover, the July package is also expected to include a roadmap for tokenizing standard securities, including stocks, bonds and money market funds. The council noted that global markets are already testing tokenized public securities, green bonds and tokenized MMFs.

South Korea does not plan to move all electronic securities onto blockchain at once. Instead, authorities are preparing step-by-step tests for rights, trading, settlement and on-chain payment systems to avoid conflict with existing market infrastructure.

Samsung SDS builds market infrastructure

The rule work comes as South Korea builds the systems needed for tokenized securities. Crypto.news reported last week that Samsung SDS won a contract to build and operate a token securities platform for the Korea Securities Depository.

The platform is expected to connect KSD’s existing electronic securities account system with blockchain-based records. It will support issuance, circulation checks, rights management and real-time monitoring before the 2027 rollout.

Korea’s digital asset rules keep expanding

South Korea’s broader digital asset policy is also moving. Earlier reports said the ruling party finalized a draft Digital Asset Basic Act covering stablecoins, tokenized products and digital asset service providers.

Crypto.news also reported that the FSC planned to lift a long corporate crypto investment ban and allow eligible listed firms and professional investors to allocate up to 5% of equity capital to top crypto assets. These separate policies show Korea is building both crypto-market and tokenized-securities rules at the same time.