South Korea will seek to permit the establishment of large homegrown investment banks within this year, which will engage in financing mergers and acquisitions and trading in unlisted stocks, the financial regulator said Tuesday.

Under a revision bill to the capital market law, brokerages with an equity capital over 3 trillion won (US$2.8 billion) will be allowed to become investment banks, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) said. The average equity capital of the country's top five brokerages stood at 2.7 trillion won as of end-March.

Source: Yonhap News (July 26, 2011)