Korea’s Koram Bank joins SuperDerivatives

Korea’s Koram Bank, a joint venture established by a consortium of local conglomerates, has joined SuperDerivatives, the internet-enabled currency options pricing system.

“The Won market is really expanding rapidly. Many overseas companies have invested in the Korean market and they need to hedge their currency risk effectively and efficiently,” said Keon-Ho Kang, head of FX options at Koram Bank. “To do this requires access to real market prices, and SuperDerivatives consistently provides these.”

SuperDerivatives provides actual market prices, as opposed to theoretical value, for both vanilla and exotic options for all currencies, and is currently being used by Citibank, JP Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, SG, Commerzbank and ING.

Other users of the system include corporate treasuries, accountants, hedge funds and corporations.

Koram Bank was established in 1983 by a consortium of local conglomerates and Bank of America. In November 2000, the Carlyle-JP Morgan consortium bought a controlling 40.1% equity stake in the bank and assumed management control. The bank’s FX options and interest rate swaps desk was set up in September 2001.