Mirae Asset Securities' headquarters in Seoul (Yonhap)

South Korea’s financial regulator Financial Services Commission has allowed Mirae Asset Securities to issue short-term financing bills after a rigorous review, according to sources on May 12.

With the final approval, the brokerage firm will have more financial leeway to manage bigger funds than a regular securities firm, launching it one step forward to becoming a so-called mega investment bank.

A mega investment bank can issue promissory notes with a maximum limit of 200 percent of its equity capital with a maturity of one year or less. Mirae Asset can now finance and manage promissory notes up to 18.2 trillion won ($16.19 billion).

“We will not overtax our qualification on issuing short-term financing bills. Instead, we’ll make all-out efforts to provide high-quality financial products to clients and manage financing stably in accordance with goals of the government’s policies,” a Mirae Asset official said.

Mirae Asset first applied for the license in July 2017, but the decision has been delayed for nearly four years due to several issues, including sanction on internal trading among affiliates and an alleged violation of the nation’s foreign exchange transactions act.

The financial regulator previously gave permission to three local securities firms to run mega investment bank businesses -- Korea Investment & Securities, NH Investment & Securities and KB Securities.

By Jie Ye-eun (yeeun@heraldcorp.com)