Koscom

Koscom, formally known as the Korea Securities Computing Corporation, is a South Korean financial technology and financial-market infrastructure company. It was established in 1977 by the then Ministry of Finance and the Korea Exchange to computerize and operate information systems supporting Korea’s securities and futures markets. Rather than functioning primarily as a consumer-facing financial brand, Koscom operates as a technology and systems provider for exchanges, securities firms, financial institutions, public agencies, and professional market participants. The company’s role developed alongside the modernization of South Korea’s capital markets. In its early years, Koscom worked on computer implementation and operating systems for the Korea Exchange and introduced electronic tools for disseminating stock quotations. As trading volumes and the complexity of the Korean market increased, it developed automated trading systems intended to make securities transactions faster, more standardized, and less dependent on manual processing. Its automated stock trading system, introduced in 1988, became an important step in the transition toward electronic market infrastructure. Koscom’s capabilities expanded from exchange operations into a broader set of securities-industry services. These include order routing and matching support, transaction reporting, settlement-related processing, market surveillance and information systems, electronic financial services, digital certificates, security-management infrastructure, and market-data distribution. Its systems support trading in equities, bonds, derivatives, and other financial instruments. It has also provided technology for markets outside South Korea, including trading, clearing, settlement, and bond-market projects associated with exchanges in Malaysia, Laos, and Cambodia. For financial institutions, Koscom has supplied both centralized infrastructure and user-facing tools. Its services have included home-trading systems for securities companies and professional terminals such as CHECKExpert, which provides market news, price quotations, financial information, and real-time market data. The company has also developed broader platforms and services including STOCK-NET, CRS2000, SignKorea, ISAC, and PowerBase. SignKorea reflects Koscom’s role in electronic authentication and digital-certificate services, while PowerBase was positioned as an integrated solution for securities firms. Koscom’s institutional importance is connected to the structure of Korean financial markets. Korea Exchange is its largest shareholder, while a group of securities companies also holds shares. After South Korea opened its financial markets more widely to foreign investors in 1992, Koscom continued developing integrated systems designed to help market participants monitor, analyze, and process capital-market activity. Its platforms have supported listed securities traded through Korea Exchange as well as systems for certain unlisted and over-the-counter instruments. The company’s business is therefore best understood as financial-market infrastructure rather than conventional fintech software sold directly to individual consumers. Its customers and users include exchanges, brokerage firms, institutional investors, government bodies, banks, insurers, and professional traders. Koscom’s positioning centers on reliability, market connectivity, transaction processing, information delivery, security, and compliance-oriented technology. The available reference material does not provide a current revenue figure, detailed present-day corporate structure, or named executive roster, so those fields are left unreported.

Koscom was established in September 1977 by South Korea’s Ministry of Finance and the Korea Exchange. Its original purpose was to provide computing and operating capability for the country’s developing securities markets. In April 1978, it began computer implementation and operation work for the Korea Exchange, followed by the introduction of a stock-quotation bulletin-board system in July 1979. During the 1980s, rapid growth in the Korean stock market created demand for an integrated electronic financial system capable of supporting the capital market as a whole. Koscom responded by developing and operating automated systems for securities firms, insurance companies, banks, government agencies, and other financial institutions. Its automated stock-trading system, launched in March 1988, helped move market activity toward electronic order processing and execution. Koscom subsequently broadened its systems to address regulatory and informational requirements. In 1991 it launched STOCK-NET. Following South Korea’s opening of its financial market to foreign investors in 1992, the company developed a foreign-investment-limit management system, introduced in 1994. It also expanded professional market-information services, launching the CHECKExpert terminal in December 1995. CHECKExpert provided brokers and professional investors with market news, quotations, financial databases, securities-company information, and real-time market-data movements. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Koscom added online trading, authentication, and security capabilities. It launched CRS2000 in 1999 and a home-trading service for securities companies in 1998. The company was authorized as a certificate authority in February 2000 and launched SignKorea digital-certificate services in April of the same year. In January 2001 it opened a Consolidated Security Management Center, supporting its role as a provider of secure financial technology. Koscom also recorded quality and capability milestones, including ISO 9001 and TickIT-related recognition in 1998 and CMMI Level 4 achievement in 2005. From the late 2000s, the company combined domestic financial infrastructure with overseas exchange-technology projects. It launched PowerBase in February 2007 as a total solution for securities firms and received an Asia PKI Best Practice Award that year. In 2008 it built a bond-trading system for Malaysia’s exchange environment and operated a pork-futures trading system. Its international work continued with a trading platform for the Lao Securities Exchange in 2011, a derivatives clearing and settlement system for Bursa Malaysia in 2012, and a trading platform for the Cambodia Securities Exchange in 2012. Koscom’s domestic infrastructure supports trading and related processing for instruments listed on the Korea Exchange, including securities traded in the stock, KOSDAQ, and futures and options markets. Its systems cover functions such as order handling, matching, reporting, and settlement. It has also implemented and operated electronic systems associated with unlisted securities and over-the-counter bond trading. The company’s ownership structure reflects its institutional role: Korea Exchange is the largest shareholder, while several securities firms collectively hold part of the remaining equity. The available reference material does not identify a current chief executive roster, detailed recent corporate strategy, or current financial results. Koscom is therefore documented primarily through its historical market-infrastructure role, named services, and exchange-technology projects.

• 2012

  International post-trade and exchange platforms expanded

  [1]Koscomen.wikipedia.org

  Koscom built a derivatives clearing and settlement system for Bursa Malaysia and a trading platform for the Cambodia Securities Exchange.

• 2011

  Lao Securities Exchange trading platform built

  [1]Koscomen.wikipedia.org

  Koscom developed a trading platform for the Lao Securities Exchange.

• 2008

  Malaysia bond-trading project completed

  [1]Koscomen.wikipedia.org

  Koscom built a bond-trading system for Malaysia’s exchange environment.

• 2007

  PowerBase launched

  [1]Koscomen.wikipedia.org

  The company introduced PowerBase, described as a total solution for securities firms.

• 2005

  CMMI Level 4 achieved

  [1]Koscomen.wikipedia.org

  Koscom achieved CMMI Level 4 capability recognition.

• 2001

  Consolidated Security Management Center opened

  [1]Koscomen.wikipedia.org

  Koscom opened a centralized security-management center for its financial-technology environment.

• 2000

  SignKorea digital certificates launched

  [1]Koscomen.wikipedia.org

  After becoming a certificate authority, Koscom launched SignKorea electronic-certificate services.

• 1998

  Online trading service launched

  [1]Koscomen.wikipedia.org

  Koscom introduced a home-trading system service for securities companies.

• 1995

  CHECKExpert launched

  [1]Koscomen.wikipedia.org

  The company launched its professional-investor terminal for market information and analysis.

• 1994

  Foreign-investment-limit management system launched

  [1]Koscomen.wikipedia.org

  Koscom introduced a system for managing foreign investors’ investment limits.

• 1991

  STOCK-NET launched

  [1]Koscomen.wikipedia.org

  Koscom introduced STOCK-NET as part of its financial-information and market-technology portfolio.

• 1988

  Automated stock trading system launched

  [1]Koscomen.wikipedia.org

  Koscom introduced an automated system for stock trading in the Korean market.

• 1979

  Stock quotation bulletin board introduced

  [1]Koscomen.wikipedia.org

  The company initiated an electronic stock-quotation bulletin-board system.

• 1978

  Korea Exchange computer systems initiated

  [1]Koscomen.wikipedia.org

  Koscom began computer implementation and operations work for the Korea Exchange.

• 1977

  Koscom founded

  [1]Koscomen.wikipedia.org

  The Ministry of Finance and Korea Exchange established Koscom in September to support computing and information systems for Korea’s securities markets.

Institutional financial-market technology provider supporting the operation, digitization, connectivity, security, and information needs of South Korea’s capital markets and selected overseas exchanges.

• Professional market-information terminal · 1995

  CHECKExpert

  CHECKExpert is a professional terminal for investors, brokers, and other securities-market users. It provides access to market news, price quotations, financial databases, securities-firm information, and real-time market-data movements. The service represents Koscom’s role in distributing structured financial information alongside its transaction-processing infrastructure.

• Online securities trading · 1998

  Home Trading System

  Koscom’s home-trading system service enabled securities companies to provide online trading access to customers. It formed part of the shift from branch- and telephone-based order handling toward electronic access, allowing users to retrieve market information and submit securities orders through connected systems.

• Digital certificates and electronic authentication · 2000

  SignKorea

  SignKorea is Koscom’s digital-certificate service, launched after the company received certificate-authority authorization. It extended Koscom’s financial-technology activities into identity verification, electronic signatures, and secure authentication for electronic financial services.

• Securities-firm technology platform · 2007

  PowerBase

  PowerBase was introduced as a comprehensive technology solution for securities firms. The available reference describes it as a total solution, but does not provide a detailed current feature list. Its positioning indicates support for the operational and information-technology requirements of brokerage and securities businesses.

• Financial information service · 1991

  STOCK-NET

  STOCK-NET was one of Koscom’s early financial-information services. It formed part of the company’s expansion from exchange computing into market-data distribution and electronic services for financial-market participants.

• Financial IT service · 1999

  CRS2000

  CRS2000 was a Koscom service launched during the company’s expansion of electronic financial systems in the late 1990s. The supplied reference identifies the launch but does not describe its detailed functionality.

• Exchange trading infrastructure

  KRX trading systems

  Koscom implements and operates electronic systems supporting Korea Exchange markets, including stock, KOSDAQ, and futures and options trading. These systems support order processing, order matching, execution, reporting, and settlement-related functions for listed securities and derivatives.

• 2012

  Expand into overseas post-trade infrastructureStrategy

  Background

  International exchange projects provided an opportunity to supply not only trading technology but also post-trade systems.

  Action taken

  Koscom built a derivatives clearing and settlement system for Bursa Malaysia and a trading platform for the Cambodia Securities Exchange.

  Aftermath

  These projects broadened the geographic and functional scope of Koscom’s exchange-technology business.

  Source

• 2011

  Expand exchange-technology exportsStrategy

  Background

  Koscom had accumulated experience operating Korean market systems and sought international projects in emerging capital markets.

  Action taken

  The company built a trading platform for the Lao Securities Exchange.

  Aftermath

  The project demonstrated Koscom’s expansion into overseas exchange and market-infrastructure work.

  Source

• 2007

  Launch PowerBase for securities firmsProduct launch

  Background

  Securities firms required broader integrated technology platforms rather than isolated trading components.

  Action taken

  Koscom introduced PowerBase as a total solution for securities companies.

  Aftermath

  The product reinforced Koscom’s positioning as an enterprise technology provider for the securities industry.

  Source

• 2000

  Add electronic authentication servicesStrategy

  Background

  The expansion of online financial services increased the need for trusted electronic identity and signing mechanisms.

  Action taken

  Koscom obtained certificate-authority authorization and launched SignKorea digital certificates.

  Aftermath

  Koscom extended its infrastructure portfolio into authentication and secure electronic financial transactions.

  Source

• 1998

  Expand into home tradingProduct launch

  Background

  Online access was becoming an increasingly important delivery channel for securities companies and their customers.

  Action taken

  Koscom launched a home-trading system service for securities firms.

  Aftermath

  The service broadened Koscom’s role from central market infrastructure toward electronic customer-access systems.

  Source

• 1988

  Adopt automated stock tradingProduct launch

  Background

  Growth in Korea’s stock market created demand for faster and more systematic electronic processing.

  Action taken

  Koscom launched an automated stock trading system for the financial market.

  Aftermath

  The launch marked a significant stage in Koscom’s development of electronic securities-market infrastructure.

  Source

1. 1Koscomen.wikipedia.org