Seoul advances increased cash rules for leveraged ETFs to July 31

Currency dealers talk in front of an electronic board displaying the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and South Korean won, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and South Korean won and the Korea Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) at the dealing room of a bank in Seoul, South Korea, June 8, 2026. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

SEOUL, July ⁠24 (Reuters) - South Korea's financial ⁠regulator said on Friday it ‌is bringing forward the implementation of increased deposit requirement for retail investors ​to trade single-stock ⁠leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) ⁠to July 31 to address market ⁠volatility.

The ‌Financial Services Commission said that retail ⁠investors must maintain a 30 million ​won ($20,437) ‌cash deposit to trade single-stock ⁠leveraged ​ETFs, which was accelerated from an earlier plan to take ⁠effect sometime in August.

The ​measures aim to curb speculative trading by retail investors. The ⁠approval of domestic single-stock leveraged ETFs linked to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix in ​late May has ⁠been criticised as having led ​to increased volatility ‌in the market.

($1 = 1,467.9000 ​won)

(Reporting by Cynthia Kim; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)