Hi BTS Army! My wife is a huge BTS fan, & we live here in the US. We both want to buy Big Hit Entertainment Stock. After a lot of research, it is very clear to me that this will be a difficult journey—if it is even possible. #BTS #bighit #bighitstock #KRX #BTSARMY @narknon75

Here’s a summary: if you are not a SK citizen & you live outside SK, my research so far is telling me that it is a very difficult 6-step process to buy stock in Big Hit Entertainment. Right now it does not even look feasible.

The goal of this thread is to see if the combined Army knowledge can perhaps make buying Bit Hit stock possible for I-Armys. @ARMY_FinLit @rubicon59 @equities_in_DLS @trubtsbae @nocturneop9no1

Some background on me, I’m a civil engineer, & I have invested in the stock market for 25 years. I know enough to be dangerous. I’ll start with what I have tried so far.

The first was the obvious: trying to buy the stock using my eTrade account—no dice. Big Hit’s stock symbol (KRX 352820) doesn’t even show up. Same thing with my AmeriTrade account.

Next, I researched if Big Hit Entertainment has an American Depository Receipt (ADR). [An ADR is an investment vehicle that allows one to easily buy foreign stocks via a US brokerage.] Big Hit does not have an ADR, & I was not surprised. There are currently only 14 SK ADRs.

Next, I tried giant international brokers: Merrill Lynch, Fidelity, Vanguard & JP Morgan. I was esp optimistic about JP Morgan cuz they helped finance Big Hit’s IPO (initial public stock offering). No dice with any of them.

Some of them, like Fidelity, clearly allow US investors to buy international stocks—even in Asia—but SK was not included in any of the choices.

Next I tried smaller brokers, even shady crypto-currency sites. The closest I got was Interactive Brokers. They allow trading in SK futures & options, but not stocks.

So, after all of these dry wells, I started digging into the rules in SK & it became a little clearer why I was having trouble. Apparently, an individual investor needs to go through a registration process. Warning: there are going to be lots of acronyms in the next few posts.

SK requires a Foreign Investor Registration Application (FIRA). This is submitted by individual investors to the SK Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). [I believe the FSS is similar to the US’s Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).] The FIRA requires a passport or other ID.

The FSS will then hopefully approve the investor & issue an Investor Registration Certificate (IRC). It is my understanding that it helps to have a SK local agent help with this part of the process. What is a local agent? Are they expensive? I don’t know yet.

This website has a nice looking flow chart for this part of the process.
http://eng.kofia.or.kr/wpge/m_53/investment/investinKorea04.do#none

Next, per Korea Stock Exchange (KRX) website, they require a standing proxy who would conduct processes on behalf of the investor. This is a global bank offering custodian services & foreign exchange. They'll change the money into SK Won. How to find 1, & which 1 to pick? IDK yet

Next the KRX site says foreigners need to designate a local custodian bank which would provide custody, money transfer, & security settlement services. Now, this is next-level confusing! Why can’t the standing proxy do this? Do they have to be a separate company?

Another nice-looking flow chart for this part of the process. http://eng.kofia.or.kr/wpge/m_54/investment/investinKorea05.do

Next you would need a KRX member stock brokerage to make the trade on the exchange. This is one of the few things on this topic that makes sense. I found a company called Mirae Asset that has a website in English. Their site says it has a trading platform to buy stocks.

A foreign investor needs an IRC before opening an account at Mirae Asset. It's not the most user-friendly website, but it was the best I found. I would imagine someone who can read Korean (which I can’t) would have more options on this part of the process.

Once your brokerage account is set up & there’s money in it, I assume you can buy Big Hit Entertainment stock using the website. There you go, simple LOL.

To recap: foreign investors need to get a local agent, then submit a FIRA, then get an IRC, then get a standing proxy, then get a Local custodian bank, then get a local brokerage account. Wow baby, that is some serious red tape!

My current status: I am emailing Foreign investor registration at FSS to see if I get lucky & can find a kind person who speaks english, reads their emails & can help me with details. Their email is [email protected]
FSS has a NY office as well, so I will try them.

I also found a word doc on the FSS website that is titled Application for Registration of Foreign Investment. I filled that out, I'll sign it, & email that in as well. Can’t hurt right?

So, here is my list of questions that I am hoping can be discussed on this thread. Are there any K-Armys who know what a local agent is & where we can find one? And can you recommend a Standing Proxy & a local custodian bank?

Please straighten me out if I have facts wrong. I am open to any insights or feedback. Thank you!