South Korean regulators introduce tokenized securities roadmap

South Korea's Financial Services Commission has unveiled a three-phase roadmap for the issuance of tokenized securities, paving the way for the nation's first framework of regulated digital assets. The development is set to commence on February 4, 2027, with the amended Capital Markets Act and Electronic Securities Act scheduled to take full effect on that date as well.

Phase one of the roadmap, slated to begin on February 4, will grant legal recognition to tokenized securities, encompassing institutional money market funds, bonds, unlisted stocks, and fractional investment securities. The second phase aims to extend tokenization to all publicly offered securities, while the final phase seeks to establish onchain payments linked to stablecoins.

The roadmap is a critical component of South Korea's planned implementation of the amended Capital Markets Act and Electronic Securities Act, which will constitute the country's inaugural tokenized securities framework. Subsequent to the roadmap's initiation, the Financial Services Commission plans to propose regulatory revisions by the end of September and determine the timeline for the subsequent phases.

Prior to the roadmap's implementation, the commission will collaborate with the Korea Securities Depository to establish the requisite tokenization infrastructure. South Korean regulators have been progressively advancing towards a regulatory framework for tokenized assets, with the FSC unveiling detailed tokenized securities rules in May, integrating them into the country's capital markets framework by 2027.

In April, the Ministry of Economy and Finance announced a pilot project using tokenized deposits to facilitate government operational spending, with a full rollout anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2026.