South Korea\'s Financial Supervisory Service cut proposed penalties on five banks that sold equity-linked securities tied to the Hong Kong H-index to about 600 billion won. The decision was made at an extraordinary sanctions review meeting and will be finalized after a resolution by the Financial Services Commission. The revised amount is more than half below the 1.4 trillion won sanctions plan previously submitted to the FSC.

Discussions are accelerating in South Korea on shortening the stock market settlement cycle from T+2 to T+1, but brokerages and related agencies said stable preparations in back-office operations must come first. They cited issues including foreign investor settlement and currency conversion, securities lending, ETF creation and redemption, and system overhauls. Participants also stressed automation and standardisation, warning that inadequate readiness could undermine settlement stability and market trust.