South Korea's bourse operator said Monday that it plans to upgrade its trading system as part of its efforts to gain global competitiveness amid rising competition among the world's major exchanges.

   Under a new road map for IT infrastructure development, the Korea Exchange (KRX) and Koscom Corp. will work to develop an improved version of its trading system by September 2013, the KRX said in an e-mailed statement.

   The new system will be able to process around 20,000 transactions per second, compared with the current 250 transactions per second, it added.

   The KRX also said it plans to develop and export low-price IT systems tailored for overseas bourses.

   The move comes as the KRX is striving to strengthen its overseas foothold amid ongoing consolidations among global bourses. Earlier this year, KRX CEO Kim Bong-soo said he would push for overseas expansion by exporting IT infrastructures and helping set up bourses.

   The KRX has exported IT systems to a handful of Southeast Asian countries, including Malaysia and the Philippines.

Source: Yonhap News (April 18, 2011)