BusinessWeek – Some participants in South Korea’s nascent alternative-investment market have grown pessimistic over the ability of incoming legislation to support the development of an onshore hedge funds industry.

The Capital Markets Consolidation Act will become effective in February. It is a sweeping attempt to give Korea a securities law akin to those in the United Kingdom or Australia, in which financial services are regulated by function rather than by business license, and in which most types of businesses will be thrown open to all kinds of financial institutions. It will allow the development of a universal bank and plenty of cross-selling.

As part of this, the Financial Supervisory Service has been keen to encourage the development of an onshore hedge funds industry. There are a growing number of Korea-focused hedge funds, but nearly all of them operate offshore, in Singapore, Hong Kong or the United States. The government wants to position Seoul as a financial hub for northeast Asia, and has seen how hedge funds have become a vital and welcome part of the milieu in places like Singapore.

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