SEOUL -(Dow Jones)- South Korea's Financial Services Commission said Friday it had granted preliminary licenses to eight applicants to start brokerage operations, including Standard Chartered First Bank, the Industrial Bank of Korea, and ING.

The financial authority said in a statement that 12 houses applied for licenses, but it declined to identify those that were disqualified.

Last month, Citibank Korea said it applied for a license to launch a brokerage unit capitalized at KRW30 billion (US$29 million) and specializing in personal asset management. But Citibank wasn't mentioned in the approval list.

The FSC said it will finalize the process in July after the companies given the preliminary nod submit final applications by the end of June.

-By Jin-Young Yook, Dow Jones Newswires; 822-732-2165; jin-young.yook@ dowjones.com

  (END) Dow Jones Newswires
  05-09-08 0717ET
  Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.