Woori Financial Group, a major South Korean financial holding firm, approved the acquisition of Korea Foss Securities Co. on Friday, paving the way for its reentry into the stock market nearly 10 years after it sold its stock brokerage. Once acquired, Korea Foss Securities will be merged with Woori Investment Bank to create the 18th-largest securities firm in terms of capital, according to group officials. The boards of Korea Foss and Woori Investment Bank were expected to hold separate meetings later in the day to approve the envisioned merger and acquisition (M andA), they said. "With the acquisition of the securities company, the group has created a complete system of financial services from venture capital, capital, banking, securities, asset management, PE (private equity) and F andI (finance and insurance)," Lee Jung-soo, vice president of strategy at Woori Financial Group, said. "The merged securities firm will become one of the 10 largest investment banks in the country within the next 10 years t hrough own development and additional M andAs based on the group's all-out support," he added. Korea Foss Securities is currently the largest online fund platform, offering some 3,700 products with 280,000 clients and 6.5 trillion won (US$4.77 billion) in clients' funds. Source: Yonhap News Agency