KOREA STOCK LEVERAGE ETF TRANSACTIONS DECLINED

ON 4 AUGUST, FOLLOWING MEASURES TAKEN BY KOREAN REGULATORS TO CURB SPECULATIVE TRANSACTIONS, THE VOLUME OF LEVERAGE ETF TRANSACTIONS LINKED TO TWO OF THE COUNTRY ' S GIANT CHIPS CONTRACTED SIGNIFICANTLY. KOREA ' S LARGEST SINGLE-STOCK LEVERAGE ETF, WHICH IS TIED TO SK HERCULES ' SHARE PRICE PERFORMANCE, FELL TO 59 MILLION ON MONDAYS, THE LOWEST LEVEL SINCE 4 JUNE. THE RELATIVELY SMALL-SCALE ETF TRADE-OFF WITH SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS ALSO FELL TO ITS LOWEST LEVEL SINCE THE END OF MAY. THIS TYPE OF LEVERAGE ETF PRODUCT HAD PREVIOUSLY CONTRIBUTED TO HIGH VOLATILITY IN THE KOREAN STOCK MARKET. LAST MONTH, KOREAN REGULATORS INTRODUCED COOLING MEASURES, INCLUDING RAISING MINIMUM CASH BALANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR INVESTOR ACCOUNTS AND TEMPORARILY PROHIBITING NEW SINGLE STOCK LEVERAGE ETFS FROM BEING LISTED. USING DERIVATIVES TO AMPLIFY RETURNS, THESE ETFS HAVE TRIGGERED A WAVE OF BULK TRADING, MAKING THE KOREAN STOCK MARKET, WITH A MARKET VALUE OF $3.7 TRILLION, ONE OF THE MOST VOLATILE MARKETS WORLDWIDE。