South Korea’s regulator Financial Services Commission on Tuesday started to discuss Mirae Asset Securities’ entry to short-term financing market, a decision that would grant the brokerage official status as a mega investment bank.

Four trillion won ($3.57 billion) in equity capital is a prerequisite for a mega investment bank to issue a promissory note with a maximum limit of 200 percent of its equity capital with a maturity of one year or less. As of the end of December, Mirae Asset’s equity capital marked nearly 9.35 trillion won.

The FSC’s advisory panel, the Securities and Futures Commission, will make the final decision on May 12.

The nation’s top financial regulator previously granted permission to issue short-term financing to three local securities firms -- Korea Investment & Securities, NH Investment & Securities and KB Securities.

Short-term financing and issuance of promissory notes have been a long-awaited business for Mirae Asset. After the merger of Mirae Asset Securities and Daewoo Securities, the local investment firm applied for permission in 2017.

Until recently, it had faced obstacles such as needing to solve issues related to allegations against holding company Mirae Asset Financial Group’s Chairman Park Hyun-joo. Park was accused of profiteering and breaching the foreign exchange transactions act in a separate case.

By Jie Ye-eun  (yeeun@heraldcorp.com)