Siebert Financial Corp. and Kakao Pay Securities Advance Partnership to Expand International Market Access

CEO-directed visit to Seoul focuses on collaborative cross-border brokerage, investor tools, and next-gen infrastructure

NEW YORK and SEOUL, South Korea, Aug. 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Siebert Financial Corp. (Nasdaq: SIEB) today confirmed senior-level working sessions with Kakao Pay and Kakao Pay Securities on August 20–21 in Pangyo and Yeouido. The visit was directed by Siebert CEO John J. Gebbia to expand and deepen a partnership that supports clients in South Korea and the United States, thanks chiefly to the support of Siebert’s senior board member Charles Zabatta.

John J. Gebbia, CEO of Siebert Financial. “Kakao Pay brings mobile scale and a trusted consumer platform. Siebert brings regulated market access and product expertise. Together, we are mapping practical ways to help more people invest across markets with confidence, including solid technology and a forward-looking AI-integration.”

“This collaboration meeting was a meaningful opportunity to lay the foundation for cooperation that combines South Korea’s mobile innovation with the U.S.’s expertise in financial infrastructure,” said Shin Ho-cheol, CEO of Kakao Pay Securities and board member of Siebert Financial Corp.

The companies aligned on three collaborative workstreams:

• Cross-border brokerage: access to U.S. equities, securities landing, ETFs and options for South Korean investors – including managed portfolios and capital markets opportunities – with resilient order routing and clearing.
  
• Investor experience with AI support: research, insights, and trading assistance designed to be useful, transparent, and foster financial literacy.
  
• Next-generation infrastructure: future-ready rails that can enable digital finance capabilities in line with regulation, including access to digital assets, in particular STO (Security Token Offering).
  

“We are approaching this partnership with respect for each team’s strengths,” said David Gebbia, Principal at Siebert Financial and CEO of Gebbia Media. “We want to co-design services that feel simple for clients, integrate strongly, and meet supervisory requirements on both sides. This is about building together.”

Early collaboration is already in motion:
– International trading opportunities accessible via Siebert are already operational for eligible clients, with integration work led by Anthony Palmeri, Senior Managing Director at Siebert. “International clients want simple access to U.S. markets with the same confidence they have at home. Our joint teams are connecting order routing, clearing, FX, Securities Landing and Equity Options,” comments Palmeri.

– A daily U.S. market analysis by Mark Malek, Chief Investment Officer at Siebert, is live within Siebert’s channels and will soon be shared with Kakao Pay Securities’s 8 million users.

– Digital Assets access, including securities tokenization, led by the deep expertise in the sector of Siebert’s Chief Legal Officer, Ralph Daiuto.

Joint working groups are being set up across technology, client experience, supervision, and regulatory review in each market, in preparation for launching.

About Siebert Financial Corp.
Siebert is a diversified financial services company and has been a member of the NYSE since 1967, when Muriel Siebert became the first woman to own a seat on the NYSE and the first to head one of its member firms.

Siebert operates through its subsidiaries Muriel Siebert & Co., LLC, Member NYSE | FINRA | SIPC; Siebert AdvisorNXT, LLC, Park Wilshire Companies, Inc., RISE Financial Services, LLC, Siebert Technologies, LLC, and StockCross Digital Solutions, Ltd, and Gebbia Media LLC. Through these entities, Siebert provides a full range of brokerage and financial advisory services, including securities brokerage; investment banking and capital markets services; investment advisory and insurance offerings; securities lending; corporate stock plan administration solutions; in addition to entertainment and media productions. For over 55 years, Siebert has been a company that values its clients, shareholders, and employees. More information is available at www.siebert.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts, including statements about our beliefs and expectations, are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements preceded by, followed by, or that include the words “may,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “estimate,” “target,” “project,” “intend” and similar words or expressions. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections, or other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements, which reflect beliefs, objectives, and expectations as of the date hereof, are based on the best judgment of the management of Siebert. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in such statements, including, without limitation, the following: economic, social and political conditions, global economic downturns resulting from extraordinary events; securities industry risks; interest rate risks; liquidity risks; credit risk with clients and counterparties; risk of liability for errors in clearing functions; systemic risk; systems failures, delays and capacity constraints; network security risks; competition; reliance on external service providers; new laws and regulations affecting Siebert’s business; net capital requirements; extensive regulation, regulatory uncertainties and legal matters; failure to maintain relationships with employees, customers, business partners or governmental entities; the inability to achieve synergies or to implement integration plans; and other consequences associated with risks and uncertainties detailed in Part I, Item 1A – Risk Factors of Siebert’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, and Siebert’s filings with the SEC.

Siebert cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive, and new factors may emerge, or changes to the foregoing factors may occur that could impact its business. Siebert undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise these statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except to the extent required by the federal securities laws.

Media Contact:
Deborah Kostroun, Zito Partners
deborah@zitopartners.com
+1 (201) 403-8185

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a173c579-b391-436e-a319-98fe99921b2c

CEO of Kakao Pay Securities Shin Ho-chul and Siebert Principal David Gebbia

Shin Ho-chul (left), CEO of Kakao Pay Securities, and David Gebbia, principal of Siebert, pose for a commemorative photo.

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