Some major Asia-Pacific countries, including South Korea, are pushing to introduce a scheme designed to allow cross-border sales of fund products in 2016, the Finance Ministry here said Wednesday.

According to the ministry, South Korea held a working-group meeting last week with member countries of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation such as Australia, New Zealand and Singapore to discuss the so-called fund passport system and the timetable for its introduction.

A fund passport system is designed to allow for cross-border transactions of public-offering funds. Under the system, if a fund is approved in a country, it would be approved in other participating countries without having to meet different regulatory requirements.

South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore signed a letter of intent in September to discuss the introduction of the system. Thailand and the Philippines have expressed interest in joining in the efforts. (Yonhap News)