South Korean peer-to-peer money transfer company Viva Republica is one step closer to becoming the nation’s second FinTech company allowed to operate a platform-based brokerage service.
Viva Republica has just passed the South Korean Securities & Futures Commission’s review process, Pulse News reported.
This means that it is closer to letting its brokerage service compete against KakaoPay, which is run by digital bank Kakao Bank.
While Viva Republica filed for the government review in June 2019, it has taken until now because concerns were raised about the company’s funding capabilities.
This motivated Viva Republica to smarten up its capital base by converting all of its redeemable convertible preference shares perceived in November.
The venture is is expected to file for a final approval for mobile brokerage service from the financial regulator after six months of preparation.
Even though Viva Republica has been forced to wait for this approving nod from the authorities, the company still managed to close a $64m Series F round at the end of last sumnmer.
The deal pushed Viva Republica’s valuation past the $2.2bn valuation mark.
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