South Korea will temporarily suspend listings of new single-stock leveraged ETFs until market conditions stabilize, authorities announced Thursday, as regulators move to contain heightened volatility that has followed the products' debut.
President Lee Jae-myung ordered agencies on July 15 to devise countermeasures after 16 single-stock leveraged ETFs launched May 27. Trading sidecar triggers have since surged to 36 this year, twelve times the 2025 total. New investor protections include tripling the minimum deposit to 30 million won, extending mandatory training to three hours, and raising the minimum trade size to 20 units. Market makers must also keep price deviations from net asset value within 2 percent.
Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eog-weon, whose agency will announce further measures soon, said a full trading suspension could cause a "bigger side-effect," noting officials are instead focusing on attracting long-term investors and improving corporate governance.