SKorea urged to develop forex market to become financial hub

South Korea is well placed to achieve its goal of becoming a regional financial hub but must develop its foreign exchange market, a senior advisor said Wednesday.
William A. Ryback, who took office this week as the first foreign adviser to the Financial Supervisory Service, said the nation has "some natural advantages" compared with other Asian countries.
"Clearly Korea has some advantages. One, it is very experienced in financial matters. Number two, it has a very deep and rich, experienced labour pool in the financial area," Ryback said.
"That is not easily duplicated, replicated elsewhere in Asia."
South Korea also has "a very strong supervisory system" that enjoys great confidence as well as rules of law that have been interpreted consistently over time, he told journalists.
However, Ryback said South Korea needs to develop its foreign exchange market so that all transactions in major convertible currencies can be settled in real time.
"We need to ensure that we have a deep and rich foreign exchange market. We need to ensure that we have real-time settlement of all major currrencies... and as many regional currencies as we can possibly do to attract investors," he said.
"We have to have a deep and rich foreign exchange market to serve those investors."
Ryback, who has 40 years experience in local and international banking supervision, was hired by South Korea as part of its bid to become one of Asia's top three financial hubs by 2015, along with Hong Kong and Singapore.
He said he hoped to ensure that South Korea's voice is heard in international forums on upgrading international standards for banking regulations.
The government aims to transform the manufacturing-based economy to meet the threat posed by a low birthrate and ageing population.