South Korea's finance ministry asked Citibank on Thursday to participate in the country's foreign exchange market as the country seeks to ease regulations with a goal to boost the global profile in the financial sector. First Vice Finance Minister Kim Byoung-hwan made the request during a meeting with Jay Collins, vice chairman of banking, capital markets and advisory at Citigroup, in Seoul, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Starting July, foreign banks will be allowed to directly take part in the country's foreign exchange market for the trading of currency forwards, swaps and spots without a branch here after registering themselves as Registered Financial Institutions, or RFIs. As of Tuesday, a total of 19 foreign entities are registered as RFIs. "South Korea will continue efforts to advance the FX and capital markets through various reform measures and corporate value-up programs," Kim said. Under the planned FX market reform plan, the close for won-dollar trading hours and FX swap mar kets will be extended to 2 a.m. from the current 3:30 p.m. "The country has experienced a gradual economic recovery, and the government will come up with a road map to ensure longer-term growth momentum," he added. Collins voiced expectations for stronger-than-expected economic growth for South Korea, and those reform measures are expected to help develop its financial markets, the ministry said. South Korea's gross domestic product advanced 1.3 percent on-quarter in the January-March period, the fastest growth in more than two years, according to the Bank of Korea. Source: Yonhap News Agency
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