Overview
- The Financial Services Commission and Korea Exchange have put emergency rules in place that raise minimum deposits, halt new single-stock leveraged ETF listings, and cap per-person holdings to limit retail access.
- Domestic trading and liquidity in the largest 2x single-stock leveraged ETFs collapsed after the rules, with the Korea Exchange reporting a roughly three-quarter drop in trading value for the top products on the first day the higher-deposit rule took effect.
- Many retail investors who bought leveraged ETFs tied to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix near June peaks now face steep losses and rising margin pressure, forcing large net retail selling and heavy liquidity withdrawals.
- Authorities are reviewing foreign high-frequency trading routed through local brokers and are considering additional tools such as cutting leverage ratios, raising minimum investment thresholds, and higher fees for excessive order submissions.
- Tighter domestic access has pushed sizable flows into U.S. leveraged ETFs such as SOXL and KORU, creating cross-border substitution that regulators warn could blunt the curbs and raise new oversight challenges.