Woori completes Korean bank’s first offshore bond settlement - The Korea Herald

Woori Bank has become the first Korean bank to complete a government bond transaction with an overseas financial institution through an international securities settlement network such as ICSD (Euroclear and Clearstream). This milestone follows new guidelines introduced in January that allow domestic banks and securities firms to trade and settle Korean Treasury bonds directly with foreign investors via these global depositories, eliminating the need for separate local custodians. The development supports Korea’s efforts to improve access to its government bond market as the country is gradually included in the FTSE Russell World Government Bond Index, a process that began in April and will be implemented in eight equal monthly stages. Woori Bank plans to expand bundled offerings that combine Korean Treasury bonds with won conversion, FX derivatives, and currency hedging services, enhancing its competitiveness in serving global institutional investors. "This transaction marks an important step in allowing Korean banks to directly provide government bonds to overseas institutional investors through global settlement networks and link those transactions with FX services," said Choi Joon-ki, deputy general manager of Woori Bank's Treasury Market Sales Department.

(Source：The Korea Herald)