South Korea Raises Single-Stock Leveraged ETF Deposits to 30M Won on August 5, Targeting $12.4B Foreign Holdings

According to the Financial Services Commission announcement on July 16, 2026, South Korea will raise minimum deposit requirements for single-stock leveraged ETFs from 10 million won to 30 million won, effective August 5, with cash-only rules (no collateral securities) starting August 19. The regulation targets all single-stock leveraged products regardless of listing location, covering domestic and foreign stocks tracked by Korean investors.

Over the past month, domestic investors poured $1.24 billion into four U.S. single-stock leveraged ETFs: Micron 2X ($427 million), SanDisk 2X ($500 million combined), SpaceX 2X ($190 million), and Tesla 2X ($120 million). Tesla 2X alone holds $1.608 billion in Korean investor assets, ranking 22nd among all U.S. stocks and ETFs held domestically. Index-based leverage ETFs like the Direxion 3X Semiconductors (SOXL, $4.37 billion) remain exempt from the new requirements.