Nextrade Welcomes Goldman Sachs and CLSA as New Members

Nextrade, an alternative trading system (ATS) operator in South Korea, has announced that it has approved Goldman Sachs Securities' Seoul branch and CLSA Korea Securities as new members. This addition brings the total number of domestic and foreign securities firms able to trade on Nextrade to 38.

The two foreign brokerages plan to begin trading on Nextrade after completing related procedures, including the build-out of their smart order routing (SOR) systems, by year-end. SOR is a system that automatically routes orders to whichever venue, among multiple markets including the Korea Exchange (KRX) and Nextrade, offers the most favorable terms for investors.

This brings the total number of foreign member firms on Nextrade to five, with Goldman Sachs and CLSA joining existing members Macquarie Securities, Morgan Stanley Securities, and Merrill Lynch Securities. Notably, five foreign brokerages have joined in a span of roughly three months since May.

'With the addition of Goldman Sachs Securities and CLSA Korea Securities, participation by global securities firms in Nextrade is gaining real momentum,' said Kim Hak-soo, CEO of Nextrade. 'We expect this will serve as an opportunity to further improve the trading environment for foreign investors in South Korean stocks.'

Nextrade views the expanded participation of foreign brokerages as contributing to greater accessibility for foreign investors trading South Korean stocks. The share of trading accounted for by foreign investors on Nextrade has been rising rapidly, from 0.4% in March last year to 14.0% last month.