While Retail Investors Suffer, Over 110 Billion Won in Fees Collected Effortlessly... Samsung Electronics and SK hynix ETFs Sweep Up Profits

279 Billion Won for the Exchange, 893 Billion Won for Securities Firms in Fee Income

The combined fee income earned by Korea Exchange and securities firms during the roughly two months following the launch of single-stock leverage and inverse exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, and before the regulatory action by financial authorities, exceeded 100 billion won.

According to statistics submitted by the Financial Supervisory Service and Korea Exchange to the office of Representative Park Sunghoon of the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee on August 17, the combined fee revenue from Korea Exchange and securities companies related to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix single-stock leverage and inverse ETFs—spanning from the product debut on May 27 through the end of last month—was tallied at approximately 117.26 billion won. In total, 16 related products were included in the tabulation.

The financial authorities strengthened investment requirements on July 31 in response to continuing criticism that single-stock leveraged ETFs contributed to extreme stock market volatility. Measures included raising the basic deposit requirement from 10 million won (including available securities) to 30 million won in cash. During this period, transaction and clearing fees earned by Korea Exchange totaled 27.911 billion won.

Over the 45 trading days, the average daily fee income amounted to roughly 620 million won. Transaction fees accounted for 24.139 billion won, and clearing fees contributed 3.771 billion won, showing that transaction fees represented the larger portion.

On days of concentrated trading, daily profits exceeded 1 billion won. For example, on June 24 alone, fee income reached 1.051 billion won, and on July 14, it totaled 1.011 billion won.

The total brokerage commission revenue from single-stock leverage and inverse ETF transactions involving Samsung Electronics and SK hynix for securities firms was tallied at 89.35 billion won. The FSS explained that related fee income figures were lower than the actual trading volume, as some firms temporarily exempted online brokerage commissions as part of promotional events.

Assemblyman Park commented, "While individual investors faced the risks associated with leveraged single-stock investments, not only securities firms but also Korea Exchange earned hundreds of billions of won in fee revenue. Although earning fees from trades is not inherently problematic, it is necessary to examine whether Korea Exchange has properly fulfilled its role as a market manager while retail investors were exposed to high risks."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.