State Street Corporation has obtained regulatory approval to open a representative office in Jeonju City, South Korea, the firm announced on July 16. The new office will strengthen State Street’s presence in the country and enable it to deepen its client relationship with National Pension Service of Korea (NPS).

“Last year NPS extended our relationship providing back office services for their global equities portfolio, as well as expanding our remit by appointing us as their first-ever middle-office provider across all their global investments. Given the depth and breadth of this mandate, we believe our new office in Jeonju City will enable us to deliver strategic partnership to NPS through better proximity,” says Ian Martin, head of Asia-Pacific at State Street.

“This move also strengthens our footprint in Korea, expanding beyond our current asset servicing and global markets capabilities in Seoul,” adds Martin. “Jeonju is rapidly establishing its credentials as a major financial center in Korea and we are pleased to be contributing to the city’s ongoing success.”

State Street anticipates signing the lease of its Jeonju City office in August. Before moving to the new office, it will start operations in its temporary office located in a co-work space in Jeonju City.