Koscom, South Korea’s leading financial IT solutions provider, and Colt, a global high-speed financial services network owner, have announced a partnership that will provide ultra-low latency connectivity between capital markets traders in Korea and the world’s major stock and derivatives exchanges.
Colt executives say that the partnership will create further opportunities to develop integrated financial IT and market data solutions for Korean capital markets, including Colt PrizmNet, the financial extranet developed by Colt, and STP-Hub, Koscom’s securities brokerage hub.
Colt and Koscom have been building a close working relationship since the launch of the Busan Proximity Data Center in 2012. Masato Hoshino, Vice President and Head of Product Management at Colt, said the partnership “opens an even wider path to future mutual growth for us, and more importantly, for investors looking to tap into the wealth of opportunities in the Korean capital markets ecosystem.”
The deal deepens and extends the partnership by several more years. The two companies’ multi-year agreement will make it possible for them to leverage each other’s local and global network and exchange colocation footprints, as well as sales and service resources inside and outside South Korea.
The U.K.-based Colt network links 200 cities in a high-speed network around the world. Colt’s customers include 50 exchanges and 13 central banks, as well as many banks and diversified financial groups.
Koscom executives believe access to the Colt network will make it easier for Korean financial services companies to offer their services to exchanges around the world, and cheaper for foreign companies to enter Korea. “This will be key in accelerating the globalization of Korean capital markets,” said Jae Wook Eom, Koscom’s head of sales. Colt also announced plans to expand its colocation facilities at the Busan data center of its subsidiary KVH.
