#1
KEB Hana Bank
No RegulationSouth KoreaEst. 1971FSS
Regulation
License
Spread
77.7Score
Five forex brokers in our records give a registered address in South Korea, and every one of them is a home-grown institution rather than an international retail brand. The list holds a commercial bank, two securities houses, a futures firm and an interbank money broker. That is the first surprise of this page. The large offshore names a Korean trader usually signs up with are not here, because none of them is headquartered in the country.
The five are ranked by overall WIKILIX score. KEB Hana Bank leads at 74.7, followed by Korea Investment & Securities (listed here as TrueFriend) at 61.2, Korea Money Brokerage at 39.9, SK Securities at 23.8 and Samsung Futures at 0. The median sits at 39.9. SK Securities is the oldest, in business since 1955, and all five opened before 2010, with four of them established before the year 2000.
| Broker | Score | Opened | Listed regulators | WIKILIX status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KEB Hana Bank | 74.7 | 1971 | FSS, SEC, BaFin, SFC | No regulation |
| Korea Investment & Securities | 61.2 | 2003 | FSS, FCA, MAS, SFC, FINRA | Regulation |
| Korea Money Brokerage | 39.9 | 1996 | FSS | Regulation |
| SK Securities | 23.8 | 1955 | FSC | No regulation |
| Samsung Futures | 0 | 1992 | None on file | No regulation |
What 'based in South Korea' means, and what it leaves out
Being based here is a matter of where a firm keeps its registered office. It does not tell you which regulator licenses the firm, and it does not tell you which countries the firm accepts clients from. Those are separate questions, and this page answers only the first. Korea Investment & Securities, for one, carries a Korean address but lists licences from the UK Financial Conduct Authority, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission alongside its home supervisor.
South Korea's financial firms answer to the Financial Services Commission, with day-to-day supervision run by the Financial Supervisory Service, the FSS that appears against three of the five names above. Onshore retail forex is kept on a short leash, and leverage offered to residents runs far below the levels common in Australia or the offshore hubs. It shows in the figures. The recorded maximum leverage across these firms ranges from 1:1 up to 1:100, and only Korea Money Brokerage reaches that ceiling.
Who you will expect here and will not find
Anyone searching for a Korean forex broker is usually after a place to open a retail account, and the well-known brands that court Korean clients sit outside this list. They keep their registered offices in Cyprus, Australia or an offshore island, so a page built on a Korean address will never return them. What it returns instead are the domestic institutions. KEB Hana Bank, one of the country's largest banks, dates to 1971 and scores highest at 74.7. SK Securities is the oldest name here, trading since 1955. Samsung Futures is a derivatives specialist rather than a spot forex shop, which is why its recorded leverage stops at 1:2.
Before you read this as a shortlist
- Check which entity you would actually contract with. A Korean parent may route retail accounts through a separate arm licensed abroad, as the foreign licences against Korea Investment & Securities hint.
- Confirm any FSS or FSC licence on the regulator's own register before you deposit, since the entry here reflects what we hold on record today.
- Read the status against each name. Three of the five, including KEB Hana Bank, carry a 'no regulation' status on WIKILIX, and two hold a clean regulation status.
- Treat the low leverage as the Korean norm, not a shortcoming of these firms. Onshore rules, not the brokers, set that ceiling.
5brokers on this list
Researched & ranked by the Wikilix team
- #2
KOREA INVESTMENT & SECURITIES CO. LTD
RegulatedSouth KoreaEst. 2003FSS
RegulationLicenseSpread61.2Score - #3
Korea Money Brokerage Corp.
RegulatedSouth KoreaEst. 1996FSSRegulationLicenseSpread39.9Score - #4
SK Securities.Co., LTD
No RegulationSouth KoreaEst. 19550.0Score - #5
SAMSUNG FUTURES
No RegulationSouth KoreaEst. 19920.0Score
This page stays in step with our records for South Korean firms, so a broker that changes its registered office, gains a licence or has its status revised will appear or drop away without anyone rewriting this text. The five names above reflect what we hold today, which is why the closing advice on any of them is the same: open the FSS or FSC register yourself and confirm the licence before you move money.
If your real question is where a broker is licensed rather than where it keeps its office, the sibling rankings are more useful. Brokers based in Japan and brokers based in Hong Kong cover the two largest East Asian domiciles we track, Singapore and China round out the region, and the Malaysia and Thailand lists show how a domestic licence and an offshore address can sit inside one firm. Each draws the same line this page does between an address and an authorisation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently asked questions
Answers from the Wikilix research team about this ranking.
Most Popular Questions
Three of the five carry a 'no regulation' status on WIKILIX: SK Securities, Samsung Futures and KEB Hana Bank. Korea Investment & Securities and Korea Money Brokerage hold a clean regulation status instead. The status is the label we record and can change, so treat it as a prompt to check the firm's current standing on the FSS or FSC register, not a final verdict.
Because they are not headquartered in South Korea. The large brands that market to Korean traders keep their registered offices in places like Cyprus, Australia or the offshore islands, so a list built on a Korean address does not return them. What you see here are the domestic institutions instead, from KEB Hana Bank to Samsung Futures.
This list cannot tell you. It is built on where each firm keeps its registered office, not on which countries it accepts clients from, and those are different questions. A firm headquartered in Seoul may serve residents only, or may route foreign clients through a separately licensed arm. Read each firm's own account terms and confirm eligibility before you apply.
No. The recorded maximum leverage across these firms runs from 1:1 to 1:100, and only Korea Money Brokerage reaches that top figure. The rest sit at 1:1 or 1:2, which fits their nature as banks and securities houses rather than retail contract-for-difference shops. South Korea's onshore rules hold leverage for residents well below the levels common offshore.
Some are. Three of the five list a licence from the Financial Supervisory Service, the FSS: KEB Hana Bank, Korea Investment & Securities and Korea Money Brokerage. SK Securities lists an FSC entry instead, and Samsung Futures records no regulator at all. South Korea's forex firms answer to the Financial Services Commission, with the FSS running supervision, so confirm any licence on their register before depositing.
SK Securities, in business since 1955, is the oldest of the five. KEB Hana Bank follows, dating to 1971, and Samsung Futures opened in 1992. Every firm on this list opened before 2010, and four of the five were established before the year 2000. Korea Investment & Securities is the most recent, from 2003.
KEB Hana Bank, with a score of 74.7, the highest of the five. Korea Investment & Securities follows at 61.2 and Korea Money Brokerage at 39.9, which is also the median for this list. Samsung Futures sits at the bottom with a recorded score of 0. Scores reflect our own assessment and can move as records are updated.
Five, as recorded here today. All five keep a registered office in South Korea, and all five are domestic institutions: KEB Hana Bank, Korea Investment & Securities, Korea Money Brokerage, SK Securities and Samsung Futures. The number counts firms headquartered in the country, not the far larger pool of offshore brokers that accept Korean clients.