Three South Korean brokerage houses -- Korea Investment & Securities, Hana Financial Investment and SK Securities -- are expected to increase liquidity in the emissions trading market by joining as market makers, bourse operator Korea Exchange said Sunday.

Beginning from Monday, the local investment firms are required to submit bids on emission related stocks that have a price difference between buy and sell worth less than 500 won ($0.44) for at least 30 minutes during every trading session. The total bids have to be more than 3,000 metric tons, the KRX said.

The bourse operator has been the only institution in the country operating the emission trading market since 2015. State-run banks -- Korea Development Bank and Industrial Bank of Korea -- joined the market as market makers in June last year.

“The new addition of brokerages to the market is anticipated to provide abundant liquidity and form carbon at reasonable prices to contribute to the government’s policy on cut greenhouse gas emissions,” a KRX official said.

By Jie Ye-eun (yeeun@heraldcorp.com)