![]() |
Photo= Korea Exchange |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] Financial authorities have recently begun an inspection into the Korea Exchange (KRX) following an incident where stock trading on the KOSPI market was suspended for about seven minutes.
On Tuesday, a source from the Financial Supervisory Service's Investment Inspection Division stated, "We have been in communication with the Korea Exchange since the incident and have been gathering related information. Since the exchange is a crucial infrastructure entity in the capital market, we may extend the inspection period if necessary."
Previously, on the 18th, a system error at the Korea Exchange led to a delay in KOSPI stock trading for approximately seven minutes. As a result, all securities firms' trading systems were unable to confirm prices or process orders for all KOSPI stocks. This marked the first time that KOSPI trading had been halted entirely since the integration of the Korea Exchange in 2005.
The Korea Exchange explained that the issue stemmed from a conflict between the 'mid-price bid' introduced with the launch of NextTrade, an alternative exchange, and the existing trading logic.
In response to the incident, both the Korea Exchange and NextTrade have agreed to conduct joint checks every week until the end of April to prevent similar issues. However, since the number of listed stocks on NextTrade is set to increase to 800 by March 31, there are concerns about the possibility of similar incidents occurring. The Financial Supervisory Service is expected to request additional measures to prevent a recurrence.
Alphabiz Reporter Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)