BlueOar and NICE Information Service Join Forces on STO Business to Expand Fractional Investment in Corporate Assets

BlueOar, a financial IT platform company, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with NICE Information Service to collaborate on token securities (STO) business. The two companies will cooperate in issuing investment contract securities and trust beneficiary securities based on corporate-held assets, with BlueOar handling underlying asset discovery and platform development, while NICE Information Service will be responsible for valuation and adequacy verification.

BlueOar plans to adopt NICE Information Service’s independent valuation process to block information asymmetry issues such as inflated asset values and enhance market credibility. This partnership is drawing attention as it combines valuation expertise with platform capabilities at a time when the institutional foundation for South Korea’s STO market is being established.

Collaboration between companies is accelerating in the token securities (STO) market, which enables the fractionalization and sale of hard-to-liquidate assets such as real estate, art, and intellectual property (IP) held by corporations through blockchain technology.

BlueOar (Head of Financial Public Sector, Baek Man-yong), a financial IT platform specialist, announced on the 3rd that it signed a “Comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Token Securities (STO) Business Cooperation” with NICE Information Service (CEO Kim Jong-yoon) on the 31st of last month at NICE Information Service’s headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul. Baek Man-yong, CEO of BlueOar, and Park Sun-bae, Division Head at NICE Information Service, attended the signing ceremony. The agreement remains in effect for three years from the signing date.

Through this agreement, the two companies have agreed to establish a mutually organic business cooperation framework for the development of investment contract securities and trust beneficiary securities issuance based on corporate-held assets. Key areas of cooperation include △issuance of investment contract securities and trust beneficiary securities △valuation and adequacy verification of underlying assets for issuance △discovery, education, and seminar support for client companies (issuers).

Token securities refer to the securitization of various non-standard physical and intangible assets—such as commercial real estate, art, ships, as well as IP and copyrights—that have been difficult to fractionalize or liquidate, using blockchain distributed ledger technology. Investment contract securities and trust beneficiary securities are classified as new types of securities (non-standard securities) under the Capital Markets Act and are considered representative issuance formats for fractional investment products.

Investment contract securities represent contractual rights in which investors contribute money to a joint venture and receive corresponding profits or losses. Trust beneficiary securities, by contrast, differ in that they securitize the right to receive income from underlying assets after they are placed in trust. The industry is increasingly adopting trust structures to separate operator bankruptcy risk from investor rights, with objective valuation of trust assets and disclosure obligations cited as core requirements.

The two companies have also specified their respective roles to maximize business synergy. BlueOar will oversee overall commercialization tasks, including underlying asset discovery and issuance, issuer connections, and platform and liquidity support. NICE Information Service will be exclusively responsible for core valuation-related work, including sophisticated valuation of underlying assets targeted for issuance and verification of valuation adequacy.

Through this partnership, BlueOar has added credibility to its business structure for liquidating assets via investment contract securities and trust beneficiary securities. The strategy is to fundamentally block “underlying asset value inflation” and “information asymmetry” issues—the biggest risks in token security investment and potential sources of market distrust—by introducing NICE Information Service’s rigorous and independent valuation process.

BlueOar has been laying the foundation for on-chain infrastructure by leading STO master plan development and pilot infrastructure construction for major domestic securities firms and primary financial sector banks. The company aims to strengthen market growth by enabling not only traditional financial institutions but also fractional investment firms, small and medium-sized enterprises, and other non-securities institutions to freely participate in the on-chain network.

Baek Man-yong, CEO of BlueOar, stated, “Through this agreement, we will be able to further strengthen our capabilities in discovering credible underlying assets and commercializing them in the token securities market, based on the expertise and reliability of NICE Information Service, a leading technology credit evaluation company in South Korea.” He added, “Through our collaboration, we will support the active issuance of various corporate-held assets in the form of investment contract securities and trust beneficiary securities.”

This partnership is drawing industry attention as a combination of valuation expertise and platform capabilities at a time when the institutional foundation for the STO market for corporate asset liquidation is being established. In particular, the introduction of NICE Information Service’s independent valuation framework is expected to enhance the objectivity and transparency of underlying asset valuation. This is anticipated to contribute to strengthening investor protection and improving the reliability of the STO issuance process.

However, the token securities market is still in its early stages, with relevant regulations and infrastructure continuously being refined. Some observers note that it may take time for the two companies’ partnership to translate into actual issuance cases and for the market to become active. The types of underlying assets the two companies will discover, issuance volumes, and market receptivity are expected to be key variables determining the pace of STO market growth going forward.

Source: biggo.com