Blue Ocean Technologies LLC, which operates Blue Ocean ATS, and Samsung Securities, the brokerage subsidiary of Samsung Group, signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a strategic partnership to trade US National Market System (NMS) stocks during local business hours in Korea.
Effective February 6, Samsung Securities began offering clients access to trade US equities via the Blue Ocean Alternative Trading System market center, the companies said in a press release. The platform offers Asia Pacific based investors the ability to trade during their local business hours, i.e., 10:00AM to 6:00PM.
The companies said the pact made for the first time in history that US equities commenced trading during local business hours on Monday morning in Korea. By starting Overnight Trading Service, Samsung Securities is the only firm that can trade U.S. stocks during the daytime in Korea.
Chief Executive Officer of Blue Ocean Technologies, Ralph Layman, commented, “Today marks a tremendous milestone for global investors thanks to our strategic partnership with Samsung Securities, an incredibly well-respected international brand and multi-faceted innovator. We are delighted to have officially launched in Asia to facilitate real-time trading access for Korean investors. This partnership allows us to transport the US equities trading day, and our Blue Ocean trading model, to provide expanded local access to the greatest capital market in the world. Samsung Securities gained a global first mover advantage as the first APAC based firm to provide their customers access to this new trading opportunity. As of today, the US equity market opens in Seoul.”
Corporate Vice President of Samsung Securities, Jae-Hoon Sa, commented, “Despite the expansion of overseas trading, the physical time difference in each country has been a difficult obstacle for investors, and the opening of the service has allowed domestic investors to conveniently trade U.S stocks during the day when the Korean market opens, completely changing the game for the investing community. Investors can compare the same kind of industry stocks in the U.S and Korea, and they can invest right away by using the information from the news and corporate announcement after U.S market close. In the past, Korean investors have started their day with checking the market conditions after U.S market close, now we look forward to seeing U.S investors start their day checking the market conditions after the Korean market closes,” he added.
