[코리아헤럴드=임은별 기자] 미국의 대체거래소 블루오션테크놀로지스(Blue Ocean Technologies)는 지난 2021년부터 현지에서 유일하게 야간거래(overnight trading)를 지원하고 있는데 거래량의 40%를 한국 투자자들이 차지하고 있다.

브라이언 힌드먼 대표는 최근 코리아헤럴드와의 인터뷰에서 “아시아 투자자들은 월요일 아침에 주말 사이에 있었던 일들을 반영해 주식을 거래하기 때문에 대부분의 미국 투자자가 잠들어 있는 시간을 이용해 상대적으로 빠르게 주식거래를 할 수 있다”며 “블루오션은 미국 동부시간으로 일요일 밤이 대목”이라고 설명했다.

블루오션은 서비스 초기 삼성증권과 1년 동안 독점계약을 맺어 한국 투자자들을 공략했고 현재 모든 국내 증권거래사와 계약을 체결해 서비스를 제공하고 있다.

나스닥 출신인 힌드먼 대표는 “이제는 시대가 변했다”며 “투자자들은 보유 주식의 리스크를 실시간으로 관리하고 싶어한다”며 대체거래소(ATS: Alternative Trading System)의 역할을 강조했다.

한국도 내년 초 국내 첫 대체거래소 넥스트레이드(Nextrade)가 출범을 앞두고 있는데 그는 “미국도 20여 년 전 ATS 도입으로 거래 규모가 급격하게 증가했다”며 “한국의 증시도 기술 발전이 촉진되는 것은 물론 가격 경쟁이 본격화될 것”으로 전망했다.

미국은 정규거래소 이외에 약 70여개의 대체거래소가 있는데 이들의 점유율은 10%를 상회한다. 한국 금융당국은 대체거래소의 일일거래량을 한국거래소의 15%를 제한할 예정이다. 미국은 이런 규정이 없다.

힌드먼 대표는 “사실 초기에 5-10%만 확보해도 대단한 것”이라며 “적어도 초기 몇 년 동안에는 15% 제한이 전혀 문제가 되지 않을 것”이라고 말했다.

그는 나스닥이나 뉴욕증권거래소 같은 미국 정규거래소들도 추후에는 거래시간을 늘릴 것이고 결국 시장 전체가 확대될 것으로 전망했다.

그는 “현재 심야시간대에는 지정가 거래밖에 지원이 안되지만 거래량이 늘어난다면 시장가 거래도 궁극적으로 가능할 것”이라고 덧붙였다.

〈전문〉

[Herald Interview] For US overnight stockbroker Blue Ocean, golden hour falls on Sunday 8 p.m.

For Blue Ocean ATS, a broker platform that facilitates overnight trading for the US stock market, Sunday night is the peak trading hour as South Korean investors flock to execute orders before the US day trading begins.

“Sunday night is our biggest night when it is Monday morning for the Asian investors and Korean investors. They start trading at 8 p.m. when traditional exchanges here in the US do not open until 9:30 a.m. on Monday,” Brian Hyndman, president and CEO at Blue Ocean Technologies, said in a recent online interview with The Korea Herald.

Blue Ocean Technologies operates Blue Ocean ATS, providing after-hours trading between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m. Eastern time from Sunday to Thursday. Having launched its service in 2021, it is the only nighttime trader on the US stock market.

“What drove the overnight trading here is that people want to have the ability to manage their risk in real-time. And we hear loud and clear from Korea, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore and Australia that they want to trade US stocks during their daytime hour,” he said.

According to Hyndman, 40 percent of the total trading volume facilitated on Blue Ocean ATS is from Korea. Through the ATS, Korean investors can trade US stocks between 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Seoul time. Another 30 percent come from the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Korea.

“Over the past two years, we have seen a sharp increase in not only the number of shares but the number of Korean brokers connecting to the US,” he said.

Blue Ocean Technologies first joined hands with Samsung Securities in 2022 to secure Korean customers. It later expanded the scope of cooperation to other big-name securities firms such as Mirae Asset Securities and Korea Investment & Securities.

Having partnered with the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2023 to expand the customer base, Blue Ocean Technologies also anticipates strong incomings from Japanese investors.

While Nextrade, Korea’s first ATS platform, is set to end the almost 70-year monopoly of the Korea Exchange in the first quarter of next year, Hyndman projects the competition to improve the overall Korean equity market in terms of size, technology and price.

“The competition is going to be good. It was good for the US stock exchanges years ago,” said Hyndman, with an extensive career in the equity market, having worked at companies such as Nasdaq and Brut, an electronic communications network for US equities.

The US regulators lifted the bar on the establishment of an ATS in 1998. There are over 70 ATSs registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, with some 30 being operational. Combined, they take up some 10 percent share of the transactions of listed stocks.

“These young, nimble alternative training systems came in with better technology. They brought high-frequency trading, and the volume has grown substantially over the past 20 years,” he explained.

While the new ATS operator in Korea will be limited to trade a 15 percent share of the transaction volume made during the regular hours of the Korea Exchange, Hyndman views the 15 percent cap as “sufficient.”

“Fifteen percent is probably a fair number to start with,” he said. “(If the new ATS is) successful it would get five or 10 percent, and I would be impressed.”

Though Blue Ocean ATS is the only nighttime trader on the US market for the time being, Hyndman foresees competition in the future.

“If the Nasdaq or the NYSE decided to jump into overnight trading, I view that to be positive news for Blue Ocean. I think the overall size of the pie would just grow bigger,” he said.