[Edaily Reporter kyoungeun kim ] Relevant authorities, including the Financial Services Commission, the Financial Supervisory Service, the Korea Exchange, and the Korea Financial Investment Association, announced on the 24th that they will bring forward the implementation of measures to strengthen the minimum margin requirements for single-stock leveraged products (Exchange-Traded Funds and Exchange-Traded Notes, ETF and ETN) from the originally planned mid-August to the 31st of this month.
Following discussions at a market situation review meeting on the 16th, the relevant agencies had previously formulated and announced supplementary measures for single-stock leveraged products. They explained that these measures were designed to address regulatory asymmetry between domestic and international markets while also taking into balanced consideration concerns over increased stock price volatility among major memory semiconductor companies, a trend that has recently spread globally.
Following the announcement, the relevant authorities decided, after consulting with the industry, to bring forward the implementation date of key measures—such as raising the minimum margin requirement and disallowing substitute securities—to stabilize the market.
Currently, individual retail investors seeking to purchase new single-stock leverage products (both domestically and internationally listed) are required to deposit a minimum margin of 10 million won. Previously, not only cash in the account but also up to 70% of the market value of substitute securities—such as stocks, ETFs, and bonds—could be recognized as margin. For example, an investor holding stocks worth 15 million won would have 10.5 million won recognized as their margin deposit.
The relevant authorities have decided to revise this policy, raising the minimum deposit requirement to 30 million won starting on the 31st of next month and excluding substitute securities—such as stocks, ETFs, and bonds—from the deposit calculation, recognizing only “cash.”
Originally, the plan was to raise the deposit requirement to 30 million won around the 5th of next month and to discontinue the recognition of substitute securities around the 19th, but the schedule was moved up thanks to the industry’s cooperation in system development. The authorities plan to recommend restrictions on new transactions for securities firms that fail to complete system development by the deadline.

The criteria for recognizing cash deposits will also be revised. Currently, cash from the sale of substitute securities is recognized as a deposit immediately on the day of sale (T-day); however, going forward, for single-stock leveraged products only, it will be recognized as a deposit only after settlement is complete and the cash is actually deposited (T+2 days). This measure is intended to prevent repetitive day trading, where securities are sold and repurchased on the same day. Loan amounts secured against proceeds from sales will also be excluded from the margin requirement. Following the implementation of these stricter margin requirements, the same standards will apply when existing investors make additional purchases, while sales will remain possible regardless of the margin requirement.
According to relevant authorities, since 16 single-stock leveraged products were listed on May 27, their market capitalization has rapidly increased from 4.4 trillion won to 11.9 trillion won as of the 15th, while trading volume has risen from 10.4 trillion won to 13 trillion won. During the same period, the volatility of daily returns (annualized) for major memory semiconductor companies—including U.S.-based SanDisk and Micron, as well as Japan’s Kioxia, SK hynix(000660), and SamsungElectronics(005930) —was recorded at 131%, 123%, 118%, 113%, and 96%, respectively, indicating a global trend of increasing volatility.
In addition, measures to strengthen the responsibility of securities firms and asset management companies for managing price discrepancies and to streamline the procedure for designating “cautionary stocks” will take effect on August 19 following revisions to the exchange’s regulations and implementing rules.
Plans to expand the trading unit for single-stock products from 1 lot to 20 lots are also expected to be brought forward from the originally scheduled implementation in November, following further discussions.
Measures to temporarily suspend new listings and ban advertising to alleviate overheated competition in the market took effect immediately on the 16th.
Relevant authorities stated that they will continue to monitor market conditions and, if the market does not stabilize, will consider additional supplementary measures following discussions with experts and investors.