South Korea’s Lee says leveraged products criticised for amplifying stock volatility

[SEOUL] South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Tuesday there has been criticism that leveraged investment products have amplified stock market volatility.

Market participants view problems with the policy surrounding such products as significant, Lee said at a cabinet meeting, adding that swift supplementary measures are needed to address these worries.

Concerns have been mounting in recent months over leveraged products tied to a single stock amid wild swings in South Korean equities, with critics arguing that the instruments are amplifying market moves, exacerbating both selloffs and rallies.

South Korea introduced the so-called single-stock leveraged ETFs, many of them linked to semiconductor makers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, as part of efforts to stabilise the Korean won, a top financial regulator told Lee at the meeting.

Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eog Weon said he believed the products, listed in South Korea, helped ease downward pressures on the Korean won against the US dollar by attracting investments from local retail investors. REUTERS