South Korea's finance minister apologises over the launch of single-stock leveraged ETFs

South Korean Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol accepted in a parliamentary session on Wednesday 29 July 2026 that single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds had been introduced without careful consideration, and apologised for it. According to CNBC, the products were introduced on 27 May and Korean retail investors made net purchases worth 14 trillion won ($9.7 billion) in them, based on KB Financial Group data, against about 2 trillion won bought by foreign investors.

As chip stocks slid, the KODEX SK Hynix Single Stock Leverage ETF, designed to deliver twice the daily move in the stock, has fallen more than 80% from its 23 June peak, while the equivalent product tracking Samsung Electronics is down almost 75% from its 3 June peak. CNBC put the fall in the value of the Kospi index at almost 35% over the past month.

Reuters reported that the Kospi dropped as much as 12.6% on Wednesday before closing down about 6%, following a near 11% fall on Tuesday. Lee Eog-weon, chairman of South Korea's Financial Services Commission, said the regulator is considering limiting access to the products to professional investors and lowering their leverage multiple.