Korea Single-Stock Leveraged ETF Volume Drops 90% After Margin Hike

South Korea raised margin requirements for single-stock leveraged ETFs, causing trading volume to plummet to one-tenth of peak levels. Retail activity fell sharply as speculative inflows were restricted.

Woofun AI data shows that South Korean regulators increased the minimum cash collateral requirement for single-stock leverage ETF investors from 10 million to 30 million Korean won. Following this adjustment, the total trading volume of 16 single-stock leverage and inverse ETFs linked to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix on the KOSPI market declined significantly.

Trading volume reached 1.2388 trillion Korean won in the two days after implementation, a 58.6% drop from 2.9907 trillion won on July 31st. Compared to the 1.2485 trillion won recorded on July 30th, current volumes are approximately one-tenth of the previous level. Retail investor activity fell to 250.7 billion Korean won, less than a quarter of the 929.9 billion won seen on July 31st, indicating a shift in speculative trading patterns.