Korea Financial Research Institute Analyzes High Exchange Rates and Payment Infrastructure

The Korea Financial Research Institute addressed responses to high exchange rates, overseas securities subscriptions, financial dispute resolution, and improvements in cross-border payment systems in its financial brief published on July 18. It analyzed how the burden of the won-dollar exchange rate could affect asset management and risk management in insurance companies. The brief also included investor protection systems related to overseas securities subscriptions, the limits of unilateral binding force in financial dispute resolution, and measures to enhance the efficiency of cross-border payments. High exchange rates could lead to issues with currency hedging costs and capital management for insurers, while overseas securities subscriptions relate to the trend of individual investors expanding their investment paths from the distribution market to the issuance market. In the payment sector, it was pointed out that it is difficult to complete cross-border payments and settlement procedures in real-time using only stablecoins. The Korea Financial Research Institute mentioned the use of central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and deposit tokens in a digital multi-currency system. The flow of foreign capital is also used as an auxiliary indicator for policy judgments, with a net outflow of $21.65 billion occurring in the Korean stock and bond markets in July 2026. According to the financial supervisory service's report on foreign securities investment trends in June 2026, foreigners net sold 49.336 trillion won, but the valuation of their held stocks increased. For virtual asset investors, domestic major policies and market trends serve as important background indicators.