Korea Securities Depository Opens First Phase of Next-Generation System, Launches G-SAFE and K-TA

Korea Securities Depository said July 20 that it has completed the first phase of its next-generation system project and launched G-SAFE, its foreign-currency securities investment support system, along with K-TA, its transfer agent system.

The depository has been advancing the project in two phases to reduce development risk.

G-SAFE was designed to respond to global market changes, including the shift to T+1 settlement cycles in the US, India and Canada, as well as the ISO 20022 international standard. The system also reorganizes the account ledger structure to reflect entitlement information in greater detail and established a year-round operating framework aligned with the business hours of 41 overseas markets.

K-TA adopts technologies including AI-based optical character recognition and robotic process automation to automate operations and reduce manual errors. It also upgraded the transfer agent website to improve access for issuing companies and individual shareholders.

On the IT infrastructure side, the depository introduced Linux, an open-source database management system and a private cloud. It also revamped the architecture to prevent failures from spreading between systems and to make it easier to apply new technologies.

Meanwhile, the second phase of the next-generation project, which will build 25 business services, public services and a data platform, is set to begin in early 2027 and is targeted to open in the first half of 2029.

Han Gyeong-woo, Hankyung.com reporter, case@hankyung.com