Korea’s leveraged ETF appetite spills into US markets

South Korean retail investors may have cooled on single-stock leveraged ETFs at home after regulators tightened trading rules, but their appetite for leveraged bets has not disappeared. Instead, much of that demand has flowed into US-listed products. Koreans now own unusually large portions of several leveraged ETFs, giving them an outsized presence in corners of the US market — and potentially contributing to trading volumes that recently disrupted daytime access to popular products. The cleare

2026-09-04 14:58:20:00

KRX, NYSE deepen ties on longer trading, faster settlement

Korea Exchange Chair and CEO Jeong Eun-bo pitched South Korea’s capital market reforms to global investors in New York on Thursday before signing a cooperation agreement with the New York Stock Exchange. The KRX hosted its Global Roadshow with BofA Securities at Bank of America Tower, drawing about 30 major institutional investors. Jeong outlined recent improvements to Korea’s capital market system and efforts to attract a broader range of investors, according to the exchange. He later signed a

2026-09-04 14:40:57:00

Korea plans sweeping mergers of state-run power, port giants

The Korean government unveiled a sweeping public-sector overhaul Thursday that aims to merge major state-run power, port and energy companies while splitting housing giant Korea Land and Housing Corp., or LH, into two. The Public Institution Functional Reform Plan seeks to reduce the number of public entities by 109 through strategic restructuring, consolidation of overlapping functions and absorption of subsidiaries and small agencies. The five state-run power generators — Korea South-East Powe

2026-09-03 13:49:15:00

Korean investors trading US leveraged ETFs 'blind'

South Korean retail investors are trading some popular US leveraged securities without access to real-time quotes during daytime hours, after Blue Ocean ATS suspended trading in 18 securities to comply with US Securities and Exchange Commission rules. The suspension took effect with Monday’s 8 p.m. ET session, Blue Ocean ATS said. Most of the affected securities are leveraged or inverse products, including the Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares, known as SOXL, and the Direxion Daily MSC

2026-09-02 15:04:08:00

Yim Jong-yong buys 5,000 Woori Financial shares

Woori Financial Group Chairman Yim Jong-yong and 55 other senior executives have purchased company shares as the group expands its nonbanking operations and integrates its two life insurers. Yim bought 5,000 shares Aug. 24, shortly after Woori Financial completed its acquisition of Dongyang Life Insurance and announced plans to merge it with ABL Life Insurance, the company said Wednesday. The shares were purchased at 31,800 won ($23.26) apiece, bringing Yim's holdings to 15,000 shares. The other

2026-09-02 11:52:50:00

Leveraged ETF fallout stalls new market initiatives

Backlash over leveraged exchange-traded funds has the Financial Services Commission treading more cautiously on further capital market reforms, putting two planned market initiatives at risk of delay. The Korea Exchange’s fractional investment market, scheduled to open in November, is increasingly likely to be postponed, according to financial industry sources Tuesday. Nextrade’s plan to begin after-hours ETF trading this year has also stalled. Industry officials said the regulator is reassessin

2026-09-01 16:35:37:00

BOK chief says won more resilient, US investment manageable

Bank of Korea Gov. Shin Hyun-song said the won had become more resilient to external shocks and that South Korea’s planned investment in the United States should have a manageable impact on the currency. “We have gained some control over the exchange rate and are well prepared for whatever shocks may come,” Shin told reporters Friday after attending the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium in Wyoming for the first time as BOK governor. He cited the BOK’s recent preemptive rate increase and poi

2026-08-30 14:56:09:00

Veteran technocrat tapped as finance minister

South Korea’s First Vice Finance Minister Lee Hyung-il was nominated Sunday as deputy prime minister and minister of finance and economy, placing a veteran technocrat with deep experience in macroeconomic policy at the helm of the country’s economy. Born in Daegu in 1971, Lee studied economics at Seoul National University and earned a doctorate from Texas A&M University. He entered public service in 1993 after passing the national civil service examination. At the Finance Ministry, Lee held key

2026-08-30 14:00:21:00

Korea needs ‘Korea rally,’ not memory rally: J.P. Morgan

J.P. Morgan Asset Management says Korea must turn its semiconductor-led surge into a broader “Korea rally” to attract foreign capital that stays beyond the memory cycle. “A trigger for more durable inflows would be evidence of broader earnings growth across non-memory tech, industrials, financials and consumer. In other words, a ‘Korea rally’ rather than a ‘memory rally,’ along with a wider uplift in turnover,” Alexander Treves, managing director at J.P. Morgan Asset Management and head of inves

2026-08-30 09:53:52:00

South Korea releases sovereign AI project scores, SKT ranks first

South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT on Thursday released detailed scores from the second-phase evaluation of its Sovereign AI Foundation Model Project. The detailed results were released at the request of Motif Technologies, which was eliminated in the second phase, with the consent of the other shortlisted teams. SK Telecom ranked first with 70.6 points overall in the second-phase evaluation, followed by Upstage with 69.9 points, LG AI Research Institute with 69 points and Motif Technolog

2026-08-27 21:19:38:00