Meritz Securities has received Securities and Futures Commission approval for designation as a comprehensive financial investment business entity and for a short-term finance business license covering promissory notes, about one year and two months after applying. Final approval is expected at the Financial Services Commission's regular meeting as early as the 23rd of this month. If ratified, Meritz Securities will become South Korea's ninth promissory note issuer, joining Mirae Asset, Korea Investment, NH Investment, KB, Kiwoom, Hana, Shinhan Investment and Samsung Securities. The review was delayed amid prosecutorial scrutiny of alleged unfair trading involving Ewha Electric's bonds with warrants and a Financial Supervisory Service inspection into unsound practices at hub branches, but authorities later determined the issues did not warrant stopping the licensing process. Meritz Securities had 8.3495 trillion won ($6.0 billion) in standalone equity at the end of the first half, implying a potential promissory note fundraising limit of about 16.7 trillion won ($12.1 billion), based on the regulatory cap of 200% of equity capital. The new business would diversify the firm's brokerage- and investment banking-focused revenue base and support expansion in capital-intensive areas such as corporate finance and real estate project financing.