The Korea Exchange (KRX) held a global conference to discuss international corporate governance and emphasized its commitment to improving the stock market’s fundamental structure to be centered on shareholder value.
KRX announced that it held the ICGN Korea Conference 2026 with the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) at the KRX Conference Hall in Seoul, on April 14.
Approximately 300 people attended the event including domestic and international institutional investors, international organizations, related agencies, and representatives of listed companies.
The event began with an opening address by ICGN CEO Jen Sisson, followed by a welcome address by Korea Exchange Chairman Jeong Eun-bo, congratulatory remarks by Oh Ki-hyung, Chairman of the Special Committee on K-Capital Markets, and Park Min-woo, Commissioner of the Securities and Futures Commission of the Financial Services Commission.
“Along with the growth of the capital market such as the KOSPI index surpassing 6,000 points for the first time in history, the market’s fundamental structure is rapidly improving to focus on enhancing shareholder value through efforts to improve corporate governance,” KRX Chairman Jeong Eun-bo said in his welcome address.
“We will improve corporate governance disclosure guidelines in line with government policies and expand foreign investors’ access to information regarding the governance of listed Korean companies.”
The conference featured a total of four sessions — “Corporate Governance in Korea,” “Stewardship Code,” “Global Corporate Governance Trends” and “In-Depth Discussion.”
In the first session, participants reviewed structural changes and achievements in the domestic capital market, focusing on policies for improving corporate governance and enhancing corporate value, and discussed future tasks.
In the second session, they compared trends in the operation and revision of stewardship codes in Korea and major countries and explored directions for development aligned with global standards.
Subsequently, in the session on global governance trends, they reviewed the roles of governance and re-examined the stewardship code amidst changes in regulatory environments and presented strategies for creating sustainable corporate value.
In the final discussion, they discussed the future direction of the market, focusing on shareholder activism and key issues of general shareholder meetings.
“The KRX will continue disseminating the achievements of corporate governance improvements through continuous communication with market participants, including domestic and international institutional investors, and to guide market-driven changes to take root stably,” a KRX official said.
College Student Securities & Derivatives Competition
The KRX will hold the 22nd National College Student Securities & Derivatives Competition to discover innovative ideas from college students who will lead the future capital market and will accept research proposals from them from April 21 to June 5.
Held annually since 2005 and marking its 22nd anniversary this year, this competition has established itself as a representative thesis competition in the financial sector thanks to its long history and the authority of its awards.
Its purpose is to foster outstanding financial talents by supporting college students’ research activities on the capital market and providing them with learning opportunities.
The competition selects approximately 10 teams that submit excellent research proposals to grant them an opportunity to conduct research in the finals, and provides the selected teams with a certain amount of research funding.
Subsequently, the research reports, presentations, and Q&A sessions conducted by the finalist teams will be comprehensively evaluated to award the final winner.
The Grand Prize winner will be given a commendation from the Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, while the teams winning the Excellence and Encouragement Prizes will take home a commendation from the chairman of the KRX.
In particular, prize winners will be entitled to preferential treatments in the document screening process when applying for employment at the KRX for the next five years, which is expected to provide practical assistance to college students wishing to work in the financial sector.
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