Korea Institute of Finance

Financial Research Brief

26-17 Sep 19, 2026

KOSDAQ Market Segmentation: Lessons from Japan's Stock Market Restructuring

In March 2026, the Korean government announced plans to reorganize the KOSDAQ market into two main segments?Premium and Standard?along with a separate category for companies subject to enhanced oversight, as part of its Measures to Improve Capital Market Fundamentals. The plan includes a promotion-and-demotion framework between the two segments, with detailed criteria for segment entry and exit currently being developed. Japan’s experience following its 2022 market restructuring suggests that...

Financial Review Bomi Lee

The Regulatory Framework for Parent?Subsidiary Dual Listings and Challenges Ahead

Policy Issue in Focus Young Kyung Lee

The Need to Strengthen Policy and Institutional Framework for Corporate Restructuring

Policy Issue in Focus Jung-Han Koo

The Risk of Yen Carry Trade Unwinding amid Shifts in Japan's Monetary Policy Stance

Policy Issue in Focus Minkee Song

Household Income and Expenditure Survey Results, Q2 2026

News Briefs KIF

Strategic Directions and Implications of Global Banking Groups Before and After the Pandemic: Focusing on RWA

The RWA growth rate of domestic banking groups averaged 2.25% during the pandemic and 7.13% during the non-pandemic period. On the other hand, for global banking groups, the average RWA growth rate during the pandemic was 5.9%, rather higher than the average growth rate of 5.5% during the non-pandemic period. In Korea, expansionary equilibrium is typically achieved in normal times, and due to a lack of growth resources and tightened capital regulations, it is difficult to take the risk of signif...

20260917 Kim Woojin, Lee Tai-Ki

Strengthening the Competitiveness of Japan's Regional Banks: Institutional Reforms and Implications

Korea's regional banks face weakening business foundations due to low birth rates, population decline, Seoul-area concentration, and declining local industries. Japan, facing similar problems earlier, expanded banks' ancillary businesses and subsidiaries into regional development and sustainability fields through its 2021 Banking Act amendment, giving rise to models such as regional trading companies, renewable energy, talent placement, and digital transformation. Japan also enacted a special an...

20260824 Byungyoon Lee, Seok Ki Kim, Haesik Park

An Analysis of the Bank?Firm Lending Bipartite Network in Korea

This study constructs bank?firm lending relationships in Korea as a bipartite network and analyzes the indirect interconnections among banks formed through common borrowers. While previous studies on financial networks in Korea have mainly focused on one-mode networks, this study identifies interbank interconnectedness arising from corporate lending relationships. The results show that multiple lending relationships, in which more than one bank provides loans to the same firm, are widespread in...

20260807 Jean Lim

The Role of Shared Growth and Inclusive Finance

Can inclusive finance generate a virtuous cycle of shared growth by simultaneously improving economic growth and income distribution? According to the World Bank (2020) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2019, 2023), constraints on financial access exist in both developing and advanced economies, posing a threat to economic growth. In advanced economies in particular, while average financial accessibility has improved, polarization in financial access has intensified...

20260529 Jabonn Kim

Dividend Payment Frequency and Systematic Risk (Beta): Evidence from Korean Listed Firm

This study empirically examines the relationship between dividend payment frequency and the systematic risk (beta coefficient) of Korean listed firms. Using an unbalanced panel dataset comprising 10,715 firm-year observations for 1,640 non-financial firms listed on KOSPI and KOSDAQ from 2010 to 2024, we employ panel OLS regression alongside quasi-experimental approaches including difference-in-differences (DID) and propensity score matching (PSM). The analytical framework draws on information si...

20260529 Taiki Lee, Woojin Kim

The Potential Impact of Stablecoin Adoption on the Share of Credit Card Payments

This report analyzes the expected adoption and usage of KRW-denominated stablecoins and their potential impact on existing payment instruments, if introduced as a new means of payment in Korea’s retail payment market. To this end, the study conducts simulations using a discrete choice model, varying the magnitude of discount promotions and merchant acceptance rates from 10% to 90%. The results suggest that a merchant acceptance rate of around 70% or higher would be necessary for stablecoins to ...

20260528 Jinsoo Bae