South Korea Sets 2027 Deadline for Tokenized Securities Market

The initiative begins when amendments to the Electronic Registration Act take effect on Feb. 4, 2027. This first phase targets privately pooled money market funds, institutional bonds, unlisted stocks, and fractional investment products. By recognizing distributed ledgers as official securities registries, the government aims to bridge the gap between traditional finance and digital assets. Samsung SDS is currently developing a dedicated platform for the Korea Securities Depository to manage issuance, rights tracking, and circulation checks.

Subsequent phases will expand access to all publicly offered securities, with a final goal of integrating onchain payment rails. While the timeline for stablecoin integration depends on pending legislative frameworks, private firms like Shinhan Asset Management are already conducting proof-of-concept tests. To maintain market stability, the FSC has imposed retail caps, limiting individual subscriptions to 30 million won or 5% of an issuance. Furthermore, issuers seeking to manage their own accounts must meet strict requirements, including a minimum of 4 billion won in equity capital and rigorous cybersecurity standards.