Eight more members have joined Korea’s gold trading platform, an indication that the newly launched gold bourse is gaining investors’ attention, the Korea Exchange said Tuesday.

With the new members, a total of nine securities firms and 56 dealers, importers and wholesalers will be registered as members of the bourse.

In late March, the KRX opened the country’s first spot gold bourse, for immediate transactions, to help bring transparency to the largely unregulated gold trading market.

Futures firms, securities firms, gold dealers, importers and local refiners approved by the authorities can register as members to buy or sell spot gold-like stocks.

Retail investors are currently allowed to participate in gold exchange on the condition that they trade through certified financial firms.

The government has been striving to bring the underground economy into the open and issue taxes on it. Koreans reportedly hold an estimated 720 tons of gold, seven times the amount kept at the central bank. Annually, gold trading volume is at around 100 tons, but 70 percent of it is believed to be illegally traded without being taxed.

(tellme@heraldcorp.com)