KOSDAQ Market to Further Develop Via Strengthened Transparency: KRX Chief

SEOUL, July 1 (Yonhap) -- The chief of the country's stock market operator said Wednesday that the tech-heavy KOSDAQ market will further develop via strengthened transparency backed by a series of revamp measures.

In a speech marking the 30th anniversary of the KOSDAQ market's establishment, Chung Eun-bo, chairman of the Korea Exchange (KRX), said the bourse operator will implement a set of measures to restructure the market in order to boost fairness and transparency.

"We need to take drastic measures to help the KOSDAQ market take a leap forward," Chung said.

According to the KRX, review for the delisting of troubled firms will be strict as part of efforts to expedite their exit from the market and the criteria for complete capital impairment and noncompliance with disclosure obligations will be tightened as well.

The KRX expects some 90 companies to be on the exit list this year, sharply up from last year's 38.

The KRX and the regulator are also reviewing a plan to divide the KOSDAQ market into two -- the premium market for heavyweights and the standard market for promising players -- and develop a new stock index for the premium market players.

The total market cap of firms on the KOSDAQ market topped 600 trillion won (US$385 billion) for the first time earlier this year, after starting at some 7 trillion won in market cap in 1996.

The number of KOSDAQ-listed companies rose to 1,827 last year from a meager 341 over the cited period.

Listed firms have raised a combined 43.2 trillion won via initial public offerings (IPOs) since the launch of the market, while their stock offerings totaled 45.9 trillion won, according to the KRX.