전자증권제도 도입에 따른 주요 법적 과제

Abstract

What has become the topic nowadays not only in Korea but also worldwide is what will change with the coming of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and what nation and individual have to prepare for this. The field of securities financing is not also an exception to this wave of change and 'electronic securities system' under which securities are issued and circulated in the form of electronic data, not the current physical form, will be enforced within two or three years by the enactment and promulgation of「Act on the Electronic Registration of Stocks and Bonds etc」 on March 2016. Electronic securities system, which is a great forward from the current deposit settlement system, enables the establishment, change, extinguishment and execution of the right in the form of the electronic registration without the issuance of physical securities. Targeting the securities of 'Financial Investment and Capital Market Act' and finance-related laws, electronic registration institution authorized for electronic registration business operates this system based on the electronic registration account book. This system is expected to reduce the issuing cost of physical securities, to control the crimes related to the forgery, theft and tax evasion and to increase the efficiency of securities issuance and circulation significantly. While the electronic securities system is expected to bring the innovative changes to the capital market structure and great benefits to the market participants, there are many things to prepare to deal with the issues arising from the difference between this system and the current laws and systems. First, the legal nature of the electronic securities needs to be established, which exists without the physical form. Therefore, many laws and systems made based on the concept of physical securities should be fully complemented to be operated without difficulty. Next, the relationship between stockholders' list and electronic registration account book needs to be established. Because the stockholders' list, which forms the backbone of the operation for corporation, is closely related to the electronic registration account book and is expected to bring a lot of changes with the introduction of electronic securities system. Lastly, the establishment of how the holder of right to the electronic securities acquire, execute and authenticate his right should contribute to the stable decision making of the issuing company and protection of property rights.