[2026 National Assembly Audit] Asked About "Adding Lucentblock to the Fractional Investment OTC Exchange"... Lee Eogweon: "Will Consider If Needed"

Financial Services Commission Chairperson Lee Eog-weon effectively ruled out adding Lucentblock to the over-the-counter exchange for fractional investments, saying the matter would be considered if necessary.

Lee Eog-weon, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, answers lawmakers' questions during a parliamentary audit of the commission and other agencies at the National Assembly on Oct. 8, 2026. Photo by Yoon Dongju.

At a comprehensive audit of the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service by the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee on Oct. 22, Assemblyman Cho Jung-hoon of the People Power Party asked whether it was legally possible to add Lucentblock to the over-the-counter exchange for fractional investments. Lee replied, “We will consider it if there is a need,” making the remarks.

“I fully understand the concerns raised. I also discussed the matter in depth with then Minister of SMEs and Startups Han Seongsuk and looked into it,” Lee said. “Lucentblock and other companies chose to issue the products, and once they are issued, they ultimately need to be traded. That is why [sandbox approval] was granted as an ancillary measure. We will monitor market conditions.” He added, “The two operators have not yet entered the market, so we will first see how this goes and then review all the points you have raised.”

In February, the Financial Services Commission approved two candidates for preliminary authorization to operate an over-the-counter exchange for fractional investments: KDX, led by the Korea Exchange, and Nexchange, led by NEXTRADE (NXT). Lucentblock was not selected as a candidate. Controversy arose after Lucentblock, which had conducted a four-year business demonstration under the Financial Services Commission’s regulatory sandbox, was rejected while a consortium led by an exchange received preliminary authorization.

Assemblyman Cho pointed out, “When Lucentblock was designated for the regulatory sandbox, it was designated as an issuer. Can the Financial Services Commission say that, for a company described as a blockchain-based platform service for trading and distributing real estate profit-sharing securities, it authorized issuance but not trading?”

Asked whether Lucentblock had been told to choose between issuance and trading when applying for authorization, Lee replied, “I think that was the case. This authorization policy was for the trading business, so that is why we did it that way.” When asked whether allowing only two operators was his own policy decision, Lee avoided a direct answer, saying, “I think that was the Financial Services Commission’s position.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.