Korea property startup Kasa to launch exchange in Singapore

Kasa Korea Co., a property investment platform, is set to expand its services to help global users invest in real estate in the world by obtaining licenses for capital market services (CMS) and a recognized market operator (RMO) from the Monetary authority of Singapore (MAS).

Kasa was the first South Korean company that secured both of the licenses from the MAS, according to the startup on Sept. 28.

Kasa established a unit in Singapore last year to prepare for a global digital asset-backed securities (ABS) exchange to be launched in 2022 there. The company in March obtained a license for issue beneficiary certificate issuances, trusts and public offerings from the MAS. In addition, it secured a permit from the central bank to set up an alternative exchange for secondary trading of the securities publicly offered.

Users in the globe can join investments in real estate in the world through the exchange in Singapore, on which ABS based on properties can be listed. That is expected to allow South Korean users to indirectly invest in global commercial properties.

TO EXPAND BUSINESS INTO GLOBE

“Starting from Singapore, we will make inroads into other major countries,” said Kasa CEO Yea Chang-wan.

Kasa, which South Korea’s Financial Services Commission selected as an innovative financial service in 2019, launched the country’s first property beneficiary certificate exchange the following year.

“Kasa’s model is evaluated as an innovative combination of global leading blockchain and finance,” said In Hoh, the head of Korea University’s Blockchain Research Institute.

The startup provide services on its application for users to trade digital ABS based on commercial properties owned and managed by real estate trust companies. Users who invested in three or more of the digital ABS are eligible to receive monthly rents thanks to dividend payments in every three months. In addition, investors can earn profits from a property when it is sold.

Kasa, which has sold out three digital ABS on buildings in Seoul since December last year, plans to issue its fourth digital ABS in a near term.

Write to A-Young Yoon at youngmoney@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.