"South Korea's single-stock leveraged ETF assets shrank by roughly 70% from their June 22, 2026 peak to the end of July, with Citi estimating cumulative retail losses of KRW 56.3 trillion; over the same stretch Taiwan's margin-loan balance fell below NT$500 billion on July 30, 2026 (all figures as reported by media; this desk did not verify them against official source documents)"

TL;DR: "Between July 28 and 31, 2026, retail leverage across East Asia was squeezed out within four trading sessions. Cnyes reported on 2026-07-31, citing JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs data, that South Korea's leveraged ETF assets fell from a peak of USD 52.5-53.0 billion on June 22, 2026 to roughly USD 15.0-16.0 billion by the end of July 2026, a contraction of nearly 70%, and that Citi estimates cumulative retail losses through leveraged ETFs at about KRW 56.3 trillion. CNA reported on 2026-07-30, citing Taiwan Stock Exchange statistics, that the margin-loan balance on the centralized market fell to NT$493.867 billion on July 30, 2026, breaking below the NT$500 billion mark for a sixth consecutive session of decline. Yet Taiwan's official participation statistics kept setting records over the same period: the exchange disclosed on 2026-07-31 that 6,931,956 accounts traded on the centralized market in June 2026, up 443,819 from May 2026. | Basis: every figure in this card is as reported by media outlets or as self-published by companies. Figures attributed to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission, South Korea's Financial Services Commission, Japan's Financial Services Agency, Citi, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs all reach this desk through media relay and have not been checked against original official documents; they are used only as risk signals and never as official endorsement. The four markets differ in population, statistical nature and verification level, so this card juxtaposes them without dividing, ranking or judging."

South Korea's single-stock leveraged ETF assets shrank by roughly 70% from their June 22, 2026 peak to the end of July, with Citi estimating cumulative retail losses of KRW 56.3 trillion; over the same stretch Taiwan's margin-loan balance fell below NT$500 billion on July 30, 2026 (all figures as reported by media; this desk did not verify them against official source documents)

ANK-Doc ID: ANK-2026-08-01-004 Version: v1.0.0 Published: 2026-08-01 Author: 竹之內凜 (Global Editor-in-Chief, auto / rapid) Category: Personal finance / asset management / leverage and deleveraging / NISA / Taiwan-Japan-Korea-US contrast (extension line) Extends: This card is the second extension of ANK-2026-07-03-007 (the Taiwan-Japan retail-money "temperature gap") — target card in three languages: 繁體中文 / 日本語 / English. The first extension was ANK-2026-07-16-005 (published 2026-07-16); this card does not reuse its material (Monex's 3 million accounts, Rakuten Securities' 26,534-respondent "investment grip strength" study, WealthNavi's 10,000-person survey, NEXER's 300-person survey, Taiwan's 20 settlement defaults, the 110.3% growth in investment-linked insurance, the Financial Supervisory Commission's refusal to allow single-stock leveraged ETFs, and KOSPI's 8.95% fall on 2026-07-13) and refers back to it in a single sentence. Articles covered: 16 (CNA 9, Cnyes 5, PR TIMES 2; material window 2026-07-01 to 2026-07-31) Same event, three perspectives: zh ANK-2026-08-01-004 / ja ANK-2026-08-01-004-ja / en (this card) Selection method: The extension line takes the published card ANK-2026-07-03-007 as its axis. What the target card measured was self-reported risk preference among wealthy Japanese (36.8% of respondents holding 50% or more in cash and deposits, "preservation" ranked first at 34.0%, and the "borrow rather than sell" collateralized-loan technique known but unused by 33.2%) alongside Taiwan's nationwide market participation as of May 2026. The East Asian market of July 28-31, 2026 supplied a contemporaneous reading of the realized cost of that same proposition: the mass forced liquidation of Korean retail positions in single-stock leveraged ETFs, six consecutive sessions of decline in Taiwan's margin-loan balance culminating in the sub-NT$500 billion print on 2026-07-30, and the largest single-day net retail selling of individual stocks in the United States since the pandemic crash. Taiwan's participation statistics, meanwhile, kept setting records on the exchange's June 2026 basis. This card adds six explicitly labelled layers: ADD_EVIDENCE (layer 1, the realized loss scale in Korea; layer 2, the new rules from regulators and the industry), CONTEXTUALIZE (layer 3, Taiwan's contemporaneous deleveraging in official terms plus the maintenance-margin ratio), CORROBORATE (layer 4, the Financial Services Agency figure of 28.26 million NISA accounts and JPY 71 trillion in cumulative purchases, backing the target card's F-009), REVISE + ADD_EVIDENCE (layer 5, updating the Taiwan side from May to June 2026), and CHALLENGE + CORROBORATE (layer 6, using the US retail shift into ETFs and two new Japanese surveys to correct the one-directional reading of "retail equals entering the market"). Official-anchor basis: official_count_verified=0, official_count_raw=0, official_attribution_unverified_count=0 — this card contains zero verified official anchors. Figures attributed to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission, South Korea's Financial Services Commission, the Korea Financial Investment Association, Japan's Financial Services Agency, as well as Citi, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Vanda Research, are all as reported by media or as published by companies; this desk did not verify them against original documents. They serve only as risk signals, never as official endorsement. The two PR TIMES items are company-published surveys, not official statistics. Honest statement on the four-market contrast: The Korean side consists of investment-bank estimates and a brokerage disclosure relayed by media; the Taiwan side of exchange and regulator figures relayed by media; the Japan side of company-published sample surveys; the US side of research-firm data relayed by media. Populations, statistical nature and verification levels differ entirely. This card follows the target card's principle: juxtapose and observe, do not divide, do not rank, do not judge which is better.

TL;DR

The target card ANK-2026-07-03-007 measured self-reported risk preference; the East Asian market of July 28-31, 2026 added the realized cost. Korea: Cnyes reported on 2026-07-31, citing JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs data, that South Korea's leveraged ETF assets fell from a peak of USD 52.5-53.0 billion on June 22, 2026 to roughly USD 15.0-16.0 billion by end-July 2026, a contraction of nearly 70%, while over the same span leveraged positions as a share of free-float market capitalization fell from 3.2% to about 1.5%; Citi estimates cumulative retail losses through leveraged ETFs at about KRW 56.3 trillion (USD 38.7 billion) [F-001][F-002]. Cnyes reported on 2026-07-29, citing market data, that more than 1.2 million leveraged accounts hit margin-call thresholds in early July 2026, of which roughly 320,000 to 460,000 were force-liquidated for failing to top up, wiping out their principal [F-004]. South Korea's Financial Services Commission raised the minimum base deposit for single-stock leveraged ETFs from KRW 10 million to KRW 30 million, and the Korea Financial Investment Association agreed four voluntary measures at an emergency meeting on 2026-07-29, requiring margin to be posted entirely in cash from 2026-07-31 [F-004][F-006]. Taiwan: CNA, citing Taiwan Stock Exchange statistics, reported the centralized market's margin-loan balance at NT$507.011 billion on 2026-07-29, down NT$38.523 billion from 2026-07-28, then at NT$493.867 billion on 2026-07-30, breaking below the NT$500 billion mark, down a further NT$13.143 billion from 2026-07-29 for a sixth consecutive session of decline totalling NT$88.954 billion over six days [F-007][F-008]. The Financial Supervisory Commission said the whole-account maintenance-margin ratio for margin trading stood at 161.63% as of 2026-07-29, above the 130% call threshold set by brokerages — but Securities and Futures Bureau deputy director-general Huang Hou-ming simultaneously explained that because brokerages file only aggregate data, the commission cannot tell how many investors have already fallen below 130% [F-010]. Over the same period Taiwan's participation statistics kept setting records: the exchange disclosed on 2026-07-31 that 6,931,956 accounts traded on the centralized market in June 2026, up 443,819 from May 2026 and a second straight monthly record, while regular-savings investment in June 2026 came to about NT$37.525 billion, up from NT$32.579 billion in May 2026 — the direct successor value to the target card's Taiwan figure [F-018]. On the Japan side, an official basis corrects the target card's issuer citation: the survey background section of an I-Bridge "Freeasy" release dated 2026-07-30 cites the Financial Services Agency for 28.26 million NISA accounts as of end-December 2025, a little over 20% of the total population, with cumulative purchases of JPY 71 trillion [F-015]. The United States supplies a counter-reading: Cnyes reported on 2026-07-30, citing Vanda Research, that US retail investors set a record for single-day net selling of individual stocks since the pandemic crash while rotating into diversified ETFs — "not exiting the market, but becoming more selective" [F-019]. The four markets differ entirely in population, statistical nature and verification level; this card juxtaposes without dividing or ranking.

Body

Why this card needs another layer

ANK-2026-07-03-007 recorded the "temperature gap" drawn by a cluster of surveys and statistics released between June and early July 2026. Wealthy Japanese put preservation first (in LIS LLC's survey of 250 individuals, 36.8% of respondents held 50% or more in cash and deposits, and "not losing assets (preservation)" ranked first at 34.0% among asset-management priorities), and within that group the "borrow rather than sell" securities- and crypto-collateralized loan technique was "known but not used" by 33.2%, "known and used" by 18.8%. Taiwan, by contrast, showed nationwide participation in official statistics (14,332,896 cumulative accounts and NT$32.5794 billion of single-month regular-savings investment in May 2026). The first extension, ANK-2026-07-16-005, already added Monex Securities' 3 million accounts and Rakuten Securities' 26,534-respondent "investment grip strength" study on Japan's cold end, and settlement defaults plus investment-linked insurance as a cost column on Taiwan's hot end. This card does not reuse that material.

What this card adds is different. The target card measured self-report: how many people said on a questionnaire that they prioritize preservation, and how many said they knew of a leverage technique without using it. Over four trading sessions from July 28 to 31, 2026, the East Asian market wrote out, in account-level numbers, what the people who did use it ended up paying. This is not a repackaging; it is the realized-cost version of the same proposition.

Layer 1 (ADD_EVIDENCE): the realized loss scale in South Korea's single-stock leveraged ETFs

Cnyes reported on 2026-07-31 that the KOSPI had retreated about 40% from its June 2026 peak of 9,115 points, with the epicentre being the single-stock leveraged ETFs linked to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix that were only cleared for launch in May 2026 — 2x products that attract retail money on the way up and mechanically cut positions on the way down through daily rebalancing. Citing JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs data, the report says South Korea's leveraged ETF assets plunged from a peak of USD 52.5-53.0 billion on June 22, 2026 to roughly USD 15.0-16.0 billion by end-July 2026, a contraction of nearly 70%, while over the same span leveraged positions as a share of free-float market capitalization fell from 3.2% to about 1.5%. JPMorgan data in the same report further show the asset base swelling from under USD 10 billion at the start of 2026 to more than USD 50 billion in June 2026, before falling to about USD 16 billion at end-July 2026, a drop of close to 70% from the peak (CNYES#1763938). [F-001]

Two institutions each supplied a loss magnitude. Citi estimates cumulative retail losses through leveraged ETFs at about KRW 56.3 trillion (USD 38.7 billion). Korea Investment & Securities disclosed that nearly half of its 880,000 clients holding Samsung were in the red, that close to 70% of its 408,000 holders of Hynix were in the red, and that roughly 700,000 retail investors were caught in forced liquidation. Young Jae Lee, senior investment manager at Pictet Asset Management in London, said heavy retail buying of leveraged ETFs pushed volatility up and simultaneously forced foreign funds into heavy selling: "For retail investors, this is a lose-lose game." (CNYES#1763938) [F-002]

The same losses carry a different basis two days earlier. Cnyes reported on 2026-07-29, citing a note by Muhammed Apabhai, head of Asia-Pacific trading strategy at Citigroup Global Markets, that the total market value of leveraged ETFs linked to Korean assets peaked at USD 52.5 billion (about KRW 76.37 trillion) on June 22, 2026 and had shrunk sharply to USD 19.0 billion (about KRW 27.64 trillion) by the time of that report. Factoring in roughly USD 6.2 billion of new subscription money that arrived during the decline, Apabhai estimated total Korean retail losses in leveraged ETFs at KRW 56.3 trillion. By component, the market value of SK Hynix leveraged ETFs shrank by USD 17.0 billion, the largest decline in the market, while leveraged products tracking the KOSPI 200 index and Samsung Electronics shrank by USD 10.5 billion and USD 5.0 billion respectively (CNYES#1741933). [F-003]

Account-level numbers make the physical meaning of "leverage" for retail investors clearer still. Per the same report: as of July 27, 2026, 42% of roughly 872,000 Samsung Electronics investors were sitting on losses, as were 57% of 400,000 SK Hynix investors; in early July 2026 more than 1.2 million leveraged accounts hit margin-call thresholds, of which roughly 320,000 to 460,000 were force-liquidated by brokerages for failing to top up, wiping out their principal; and "investor deposits," the standby money behind the equity market, fell to KRW 105.6 trillion, a five-month low (CNYES#1741933). [F-004]

A basis warning (the point in this card that most deserves the reader's attention): CNYES#1763938 (reported 2026-07-31) and CNYES#1741933 (reported 2026-07-29) use different bases for the Samsung/Hynix investor loss ratios. The former records "nearly half of 880,000 Samsung-holding clients in the red, close to 70% of 408,000 Hynix holders in the red" (sourced to a disclosure by a single brokerage, Korea Investment & Securities); the latter records "as of July 27, 2026, 42% of roughly 872,000 Samsung Electronics investors and 57% of 400,000 SK Hynix investors in the red." The reporting dates, disclosing entities and as-of bases all differ, so this card keeps them in separate sentences, each with its own attribution and date, and does not merge, reconcile or average them (see the basis section).

Layer 2 (ADD_EVIDENCE): new margin and product-restriction rules from regulators and the industry

The institutional response landed in the same week. Cnyes reported on 2026-07-29 that South Korea's Financial Services Commission announced it would raise the minimum base deposit (margin) threshold for single-stock leveraged ETFs from KRW 10 million to KRW 30 million, ban the use of government bonds as collateral, and suspend approvals of new products of this type. Apabhai predicted it was highly likely the total market value of leveraged ETFs market-wide would fall below USD 8 billion before the end of 2026. South Korean finance minister Koo Yun-cheol told the National Assembly he was sorry that single-stock leveraged ETFs had been introduced without sufficient deliberation, amplifying market volatility (CNYES#1741933). [F-004]

In a separate report on 2026-07-29, Cnyes said that after Korean equities triggered market-wide circuit breakers on two consecutive days, Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol chaired an emergency meeting on the evening of 2026-07-29 attended by the heads of the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service. The post-meeting statement said: "Concentrated trading in single-stock leveraged products has amplified volatility, and the authorities commit to responding swiftly and decisively." Directions include restricting retail participation in leveraged ETFs by setting a cap on their share of an individual's portfolio while raising trading costs; pursuing legal amendments, with reference to overseas precedents such as Hong Kong's flexible leverage regime, to grant regulators emergency market-stabilization powers; and maintaining the highest level of alert with round-the-clock market monitoring. The report also records the authorities' assessment that this episode was not a collapse of fundamentals but a liquidity stampede in which retail investors used single-stock leveraged ETFs to bet heavily on Samsung and Hynix, adding on the way up and blowing up on the way down (CNYES#1742365). [F-005] The Cnyes report of 2026-07-31 additionally lists the authorities' "five market-rescue tools": KRW 10 trillion (USD 6.9 billion) reserved for a national market-stabilization fund (last deployed in 2008); an internal precautionary assessment by the exchange of a short-selling ban and a narrowing of the 30% daily price limit (the exchange denied receiving any instruction); restrictions on leveraged ETFs (suspending new listings, capping holdings at 20% of total assets, raising trading costs, adding simulated-trading training); adjustments to margin requirements; and a relaxation of buyback rules (CNYES#1763938). [F-002]

The detail of industry self-regulation comes from CNA's Seoul correspondent. Per CNA's 2026-07-30 report (citing Yonhap): the Korea Financial Investment Association convened an emergency meeting on the afternoon of 2026-07-29, chaired by association chairman Hwang Sung-yeop (transliterated), attended by representatives of eight asset-management companies — KB, Mirae Asset, Samsung, Shinhan, Kiwoom, Hana, Korea Investment and Hanwha — and eight brokerage liquidity-provider (LP) heads, and agreed to pursue four voluntary measures: (1) asset managers will spread rebalancing trades, previously concentrated before the close, across the intraday session and after the close; (2) asset managers and LP brokerages will continue to cooperate in reducing LP trading volume and strictly managing premium/discount ranges; (3) disclosure of investment risk and investor communication will be strengthened; and (4) the industry will support the government's push to raise base margin and strengthen investor education. Single-stock leveraged products were launched in May 2026 with the original aim of narrowing the regulatory gap with overseas markets and widening investor choice. Investor-protection measures take effect from 2026-07-31: base margin rises from KRW 10 million (NT$222,000) to KRW 30 million (NT$667,000) and must be posted entirely in cash, while equities, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and bonds — previously countable toward margin at 70% of market value — will no longer be included (CNA#1750518). [F-006]

> The target card's F-007 recorded 33.2% "known but not used" and 18.8% "known and used" — the structure of awareness in a June 2026 sample survey of wealthy Japanese. The Korean numbers above are the realized outcome in July 2026, in an entirely different market, population and product (single-stock leveraged ETFs, not securities-collateralized loans). The two cannot be divided by one another and cannot serve as mutual proof. This card only juxtaposes them: the same family of "amplification through borrowing" left one set of readings on the self-report side and another on the realized side.

Layer 3 (CONTEXTUALIZE): Taiwan's contemporaneous deleveraging in official terms

Taiwan moved to a different rhythm in the same week. There are no single-stock leveraged ETFs there (the first extension card ANK-2026-07-16-005 recorded that the Financial Supervisory Commission neither permits nor accepts applications for such products); instead, leverage was squeezed out through consecutive declines in the margin-loan balance.

CNA reported on 2026-07-29, citing Taiwan Stock Exchange statistics, that the centralized market's margin-loan balance fell to NT$507.011 billion on 2026-07-29, down NT$38.523 billion from 2026-07-28, a fifth consecutive session of decline; adding the NT$23.128 billion decrease of 2026-07-28, the two sessions together saw a NT$61.651 billion drop. The centralized market index fell 1,564.18 points that day to close at 40,039.18 (CNA#1742221). [F-007] One session later, CNA reported on 2026-07-30, citing statistics released by the exchange that evening, that the balance fell to NT$493.867 billion on 2026-07-30, breaking below the NT$500 billion mark and down a further NT$13.143 billion from 2026-07-29 — a sixth consecutive session of decline, totalling NT$88.954 billion over six days; the index dropped as much as 634 points shortly after the open that day (CNA#1757605). [F-008]

The regulator disclosed two sets of figures at the same time. Per CNA's 2026-07-29 report: the Financial Supervisory Commission said that as of 2026-07-28 the whole-account maintenance-margin ratio for margin trading stood at 165.50%, above the 130% minimum call threshold set by brokerages, and that securities borrowing and lending sales accounted for 3.76% of market turnover. Taiwan's benchmark closed at 40,039.18 on 2026-07-29, down 1,564.18 points or 3.76%, on turnover of about NT$1.083569 trillion — the seventh-largest closing point drop in the index's history. Over the same window (as of 1:30 p.m. that day), major Asian markets showed Singapore up 0.71%, Shanghai up 0.31%, Hong Kong up 1.23%, Japan down 1.72% and South Korea down 7.46%. Commission data further showed the centralized market's price-earnings ratio at about 31.78 times as of end-June 2026, a cash dividend yield of 1.56% (1.59% including stock dividends), and cumulative revenue for domestic listed and OTC companies of about NT$30.49 trillion through end-June 2026, up 35.96% from the same period of 2025 (CNA#1739563). [F-009]

The next day's figure stepped down a notch, but what deserves recording more is the statistical blind spot the regulator acknowledged itself. Per CNA's 2026-07-30 report: Securities and Futures Bureau deputy director-general Huang Hou-ming said Taiwan's benchmark closed at 39,933.30 on 2026-07-30, down 105.88 points and below the 40,000 mark, with a weekly decline of 8.52% (2026-07-27 to 07-30). Over the same window, other semiconductor-heavy markets from 2026-07-27 to 1:30 p.m. on 07-30 saw Japan down 4.37% and South Korea down 16.51%, while US data through 2026-07-29 showed the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down 11.6%. As of 2026-07-29 the whole-account maintenance-margin ratio was 161.63%, above the 130% call threshold; securities borrowing and lending sales were 3.17% of turnover; and the maintenance ratio for unrestricted-purpose lending was likewise above 130%. Huang further explained that the whole-account maintenance ratio published by the commission takes the entirety of a trader's margin positions as its statistical unit rather than computing per individual stock, and that as for how many investors have already fallen below 130%, because brokerages file only aggregate client data with the exchange, without granular detail, the commission cannot establish that number (CNA#1757592). [F-010]

The size of the stock explains the denominator of "deleveraging." Per the same report, citing Financial Supervisory Commission statistics: as of end-June 2026, the margin-loan balance for listed and OTC shares was about NT$818.7 billion and the unrestricted-purpose lending balance about NT$474.2 billion, together about NT$1.2929 trillion, up NT$47.0 billion from end-May 2026. The combined total of brokerages' three businesses — margin financing, securities-business lending and unrestricted-purpose lending — equals 185% of brokerages' net worth. On whether the thresholds of Taiwan's disposition regime will be adjusted, Huang said the exchange and the Taipei Exchange are still assessing and no proposal has yet been submitted. The report also notes the index had fallen 3,595 points over the prior two sessions (CNA#1757592). [F-011]

This desk's published cards record the starting point of that stretch: ANK-2026-07-28-003 records that Taiwan's benchmark closed at 41,603.36 on 2026-07-28, down 2,030.83 points from the previous session, which CNA reported as the third-largest closing point drop on record. The six-session deleveraging in layer 3 of this card is counted from that day.

Layer 3 continued (the opposite extreme in the same week): the twin-market reversal of 2026-07-31

The last frame of the deleveraging is the opposite extreme within the same week — and it matters to the retail-leverage story, because it shows that the mechanical nature of forced liquidation amplifies moves on the way up as well.

Per CNA's 2026-07-31 report: Taiwan's weighted index surged 3,186.45 points that day, the largest point gain on record, to close at 43,119.75 on turnover of NT$833.713 billion. TSMC rose by its daily limit to NT$2,425, up NT$220 from the previous session (the report says "largest point gain on record" at this point without specifying the referent in the original text; reproduced here as written), lifting its market value to NT$62.88 trillion and contributing 1,746 points to the index. The electronics sub-index rose 9.19%, the financial sub-index 4.45%, and exchange statistics counted 113 limit-up listings. Over longer horizons, however, the index fell 535.09 points over that week and 3,006.16 points across July 2026 (CNA#1767266). [F-012]

Per CNA's Seoul report of 2026-07-31 (citing the Associated Press): the KOSPI surged 1,001.89 points, or 17.91%, to close at 6,595.45, the largest single-day gain in its history (the previous record came during the global financial crisis in October 2008, at close to 12%). Samsung Electronics rose 28% from the previous session and SK Hynix jumped 30%. Over the three sessions before that day the KOSPI had fallen more than 17% as tech shares were sold on AI-bubble worries and competitive pressure from Chinese chip and AI rivals. The rebound was driven mainly by Microsoft's previous-day results beating market expectations, sending its shares up 15.5%, the largest single-day gain in nearly 18 years (CNA#1770160). [F-013]

And the flow structure of that day is where this card's thread converges. Per a second CNA Seoul report of 2026-07-31 (citing CNBC and Bloomberg): on 2026-07-31 foreign investors bought a net KRW 7.8 trillion (about NT$192.6 billion) of KOSPI shares while retail investors sold a net KRW 8 trillion (about NT$197.5 billion) — both unprecedented records. SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won disclosed that he had bought SK Hynix shares. Jung In Yun, founder of Fibonacci Asset Management, described recent Korean equities as manic-depressive, "from panic to euphoria almost overnight," and noted that short covering and mechanical rebalancing in leveraged ETFs amplified the gain, while the new cash-margin rules for such ETFs that took effect that day may likewise have encouraged position adjustment. Hebe Chen, senior market analyst at Vantage, said the deleveraging in Korean equities is squeezing out the earlier speculative froth (CNA#1773851). [F-014]

On the same day the index posted its largest single-day gain on record and retail investors posted their largest single-day net selling on record. That coexistence is itself the strongest rebuttal of the one-directional reading of "retail equals entering the market."

Layer 4 (CORROBORATE): correcting Japan's NISA figure to an official basis

The NISA account count in the target card's F-009 came from a citation inside a Rakuten Securities release of 2026-07-01 (more than 28 million at end-2025, equivalent to 23% of the total population), which this desk labelled at the time as an issuer-release citation. This card adds a second route that gets closer to an official basis.

The survey background section of the release published by I-Bridge Inc. ("Freeasy") on 2026-07-30 cites the Financial Services Agency: as of end-December 2025 there were 28.26 million NISA accounts, a little over 20% of the total population, with cumulative purchases of JPY 71 trillion (the release notes this is reproduced from Nikkei MJ of February 18, 2026). The same release's survey outline: conducted on 2026-06-30, targeting men and women aged 15 and over (with equal cells by sex and age band), 1,000 respondents in total, online, nationwide (PRTIMES#1749426). [F-015]

This is CORROBORATE, not REVISE: 28.26 million and "more than 28 million" agree in direction and magnitude, and this card does not rewrite the target card's record. But it must be said honestly that what this desk obtained is a Financial Services Agency figure carried by a company release quoting a media report — the agency's own document was not consulted, and two layers of relay sit in between.

Two further readings from the same 1,000-person survey add what the target card lacked: the psychology of the experienced and the barriers at the entrance. Among those with investment experience, the structure of regret shows "no particular regret" highest at 28.7%; among stated regrets, "started too late" leads at 19.5%, followed by "sold too early and missed the gains" at 18.0% and "was too slow to cut losses" at 17.5%. Among those not currently investing but who would start or restart if their anxieties and barriers were resolved, the top requests of financial institutions are "being able to start with small amounts" at 45.1% and "easy-to-understand information for beginners" at 41.7%, with "low trading fees" at 38.9% and "a sense of security regarding safety" at 37.5% also near the top. Among those already investing, what actually matters most is "low trading fees" at 38.6%, followed by "a securities brand I can trust" at 32.0% (PRTIMES#1749426). [F-016]

Layer 5 (REVISE + ADD_EVIDENCE): updating the Taiwan side from May to June 2026

The target card's Taiwan side stops at May 2026 (14,332,896 cumulative accounts, NT$32.5794 billion of single-month regular-savings investment), sourced to this desk's published card ANK-2026-06-01-001. The exchange's June statistics have moved both figures forward, and this card executes REVISE here.

CNA reported on 2026-07-01, citing Taiwan Stock Exchange statistics, that as of end-June 2026 the cumulative total of Taiwan share-trading accounts reached 14,487,981, up about 155,000 from end-May 2026 and a fresh record, with an increase of 720,156 over the first half of 2026. By age band (cumulative accounts / increase over the first half of 2026): under 19, 785,558 / +109,693; 20-30, 1,854,051 / +68,171; 31-40, 2,357,847 / +122,620; 41-50, 2,704,355 / +95,144; 51-60, 2,397,572 / +65,218; 61 and over, 4,273,840 / +251,804; institutions and others, 114,758 / +7,506. The same report notes the index rose 17,162.31 points in the first half of 2026, a record (CNA#1279889). [F-017]

The more consequential successor value came only at the end of July. Per CNA's 2026-07-31 report: the Taiwan Stock Exchange disclosed that day that 6,931,956 accounts traded on the centralized market in June 2026, up 443,819 from May 2026 and a second consecutive monthly record. Individuals accounted for 51.5% of turnover in June 2026, down from 53.33% in May 2026, while foreign investors accounted for 37.12%, slightly up from 36.84% in May 2026. Turnover velocity was 21.91% (20.61% in May 2026); day trading was 36.9% of turnover (37.36% in May 2026); the daily average number of day-trading accounts was 242,714 (247,594 in May 2026); ETFs were 7.7% of turnover (7.17% in May 2026); and regular-savings investment came to about NT$37.525 billion, up from NT$32.579 billion in May 2026 (CNA#1770725). [F-018]

That last figure is the direct successor to the target card's Taiwan number of "NT$32.5794 billion in May 2026." At the same time, the individual share of turnover in June 2026 fell from May 2026 while trading accounts and regular-savings amounts both set records — record participation and a declining retail share of turnover coexisting within the same monthly release, continuing the two-sides-of-one-coin pattern recorded in ANK-2026-06-01-001.

Layer 6 (CHALLENGE + CORROBORATE): "retail equals entering the market" is a one-directional reading

The target card's narrative frame was "Japan defends, Taiwan enters." This card does not overturn its facts, but it corrects the boundary of that reading: retail behaviour is not a one-way ramp from "not investing" to "investing." The same people can simultaneously sell individual stocks, buy ETFs, and keep their regular contributions running.

The United States supplies the cleanest counterexample. Cnyes reported on 2026-07-30, citing Vanda Research via MarketWatch, that US retail investors are selling individual stocks at the fastest pace since the COVID-19 crash. The report says that on the Tuesday of that week US retail investors set a record for the largest single-day net selling of individual stocks since the pandemic crash, with total net retail selling of individual stocks that day at USD 213 million, of which Micron (MU), Sandisk (SNDK), Seagate (STX) and Western Digital (WDC) accounted for 88%. So far in 2026, through the date of that report, there had been nine sessions of net retail selling of individual stocks, whereas 2021, 2024 and 2025 each saw no such day for the entire year. Average daily retail turnover in individual stocks in 2026 to date stands at USD 15.7 billion, a record high. Vanda finds retail investors favouring more diversified ETFs as a defensive alternative — "sell single names, buy large index ETFs" — and notes retail net buying of the Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) that day. Vanda's conclusion is that retail investors are not exiting the equity market but "becoming more selective" (CNYES#1750521). [F-019]

The second Japanese survey CORROBORATES the same point from the opposite direction: institutionalized regular investing can exist detached from intent. Per the release by Erevista Inc. ("SOLSEL") of 2026-07-29: the company exhibited at the "Asset Management EXPO [Summer]" held at Tokyo Big Sight from May 15 to 17, 2026 (organizer: RX Japan) and surveyed visitors to its own booth (161 collected, 134 valid responses). Among those who said they were "not very interested" in tax saving (n=13, an extremely small sample), the NISA/Tsumitate NISA ownership rate was 84.6%, barely different from the 87.1% of all respondents (n=101). Tax-saving and asset-building measures actually undertaken (multiple answers, n=101) were NISA/Tsumitate NISA 87.1%, real-estate investment 45.5%, iDeCo 36.6%, life insurance for tax purposes 25.7%, solar-power investment 12.9% and corporate tax planning 5.9%. For "what comes to mind as a real asset?" (multiple answers, n=78): real estate 94.9%, solar power 30.8%, parking lots 24.4%, container warehouses 16.7%, other 5.1%, farmland and forest 2.6%. The publisher states that 95.8% of respondents already invest and 85.6% have an interest in tax saving (PRTIMES#1735903). [F-020]

This survey must be framed strictly. The publisher, Erevista, operates SOLSEL, a brokerage service for second-hand solar-power plants; the survey was self-administered at its own exhibition booth as the fourth instalment of a series and carries an evident commercial purpose (steering toward the conclusion that solar power has yet to enter the consideration set). Visitors are a self-selected sample, and the bases n=13, n=101 and n=78 differ and are all extremely small. This card takes one directional signal only — even among respondents not interested in tax saving, NISA ownership was 84.6%, barely different from the whole — and treats it neither as representative of Japanese people generally nor as this card's protagonist. Its significance is confined to this: NISA has become a holding that occurs without a decision being made, which points to the same conclusion as the American switch of "sell single names, buy ETFs" — retail is not a switch, but a set of allocation actions running in parallel.

What the real structure of this week is

Place the four markets on one timeline. Between July 28 and 31, 2026, Korean retail leverage was forcibly squeezed out (per the reports, more than 1.2 million accounts hit margin-call thresholds in early July 2026 and roughly 320,000 to 460,000 were force-liquidated), Taiwan's margin-loan balance fell for six consecutive sessions and broke below NT$500 billion, and US retail investors sold individual stocks at the fastest pace since the pandemic. Three markets deleveraged at once.

But the stock of participation did not retreat: Taiwan's June 2026 trading accounts and regular-savings amounts both set records (exchange basis), Japan's NISA accounts stood at 28.26 million as of end-December 2025 (Financial Services Agency basis, via two layers of relay), and US retail rotated into ETFs. Deleveraging and leaving the market are two different things.

And the "preservation" 34.0% and the "known but not used" 33.2% that the target card measured were not refuted this week; they acquired a price tag — those who did not use leverage were not liquidated this week. This is not praise or blame directed at wealthy Japanese behaviour (this card renders no judgment of which is better). It says only this: the 33.2% option on the target card's questionnaire now has, from Korea in July 2026, one comparable set of realized-cost figures beside it. Whether that comparison generalizes: it does not. Korea's case involves single-stock leveraged ETFs while Japan's question concerned securities- and crypto-collateralized loans; the products, populations and statistical natures differ. This card simply sets the two sets of readings side by side and leaves the rest to the reader.

Risk factors

Basis (consolidated once)

All substantive warnings in this card are consolidated in the risk-factor section above; other mentions in the body are cross-references only and are not expanded again. Four core points: (1) the official-anchor basis, stated in full in the "Official-anchor basis" field at the top of this card and only cross-referenced here; (2) the Korean loss ratios and the KOSPI drawdown each exist in two reported bases, kept separate and unreconciled; (3) Taiwan's maintenance ratio is an aggregate basis with a statistical blind spot acknowledged by the regulator itself; (4) the two PR TIMES items are company-published small-sample commercial surveys and must not be extrapolated into national representative values.

FAQ

Q: How much did Korean retail investors lose on single-stock leveraged ETFs?

Per Cnyes on 2026-07-31, Citi estimates cumulative Korean retail losses through leveraged ETFs at about KRW 56.3 trillion (USD 38.7 billion). Per Cnyes on 2026-07-29, citing Citi's Asia-Pacific trading strategy head Muhammed Apabhai, the estimate is built as follows: the total market value of leveraged ETFs linked to Korean assets fell from a peak of USD 52.5 billion (about KRW 76.37 trillion) on June 22, 2026 to USD 19.0 billion (about KRW 27.64 trillion) at the time of that report, with roughly USD 6.2 billion of new subscription money during the decline factored in.

This is an investment-bank estimate, not a verified outturn; this desk did not check the original report (CNYES#1763938, CNYES#1741933).

Q: How many Korean retail accounts were actually liquidated?

Per Cnyes on 2026-07-29: more than 1.2 million leveraged accounts hit margin-call thresholds in early July 2026, of which roughly 320,000 to 460,000 were force-liquidated by brokerages for failing to top up, wiping out their principal; over the same period "investor deposits" fell to KRW 105.6 trillion, a five-month low. A separate Cnyes report of 2026-07-31 cites a disclosure by Korea Investment & Securities that roughly 700,000 retail investors were caught in forced liquidation.

"320,000 to 460,000" is a range as reported, not a precise figure; the "roughly 700,000" comes from a single brokerage (Korea Investment & Securities) on a different basis from the account counts above, and this card does not add them together (CNYES#1741933, CNYES#1763938).

Q: What did the Korean authorities do?

As reported: the Financial Services Commission raised the minimum base deposit for single-stock leveraged ETFs from KRW 10 million to KRW 30 million, banned government bonds as collateral, and suspended approvals of new products of this type (CNYES#1741933). Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol chaired an emergency meeting on the evening of 2026-07-29, with directions including restricting retail participation in leveraged ETFs and setting a cap on their share of an individual's portfolio, raising trading costs, and pursuing legal amendments with reference to Hong Kong's regime (CNYES#1742365). The Korea Financial Investment Association agreed four voluntary measures on 2026-07-29 and, from 2026-07-31, requires base margin to be posted entirely in cash, with equities, ETFs and bonds no longer countable at 70% of market value (CNA#1750518).

The above faithfully reproduces what the reports state; this card offers no legal interpretation.

Q: How fast was Taiwan's deleveraging?

Per CNA, citing Taiwan Stock Exchange statistics: the centralized market's margin-loan balance fell to NT$507.011 billion on 2026-07-29, down NT$38.523 billion from 2026-07-28 (a fifth consecutive session of decline; NT$61.651 billion over two sessions), then to NT$493.867 billion on 2026-07-30, below the NT$500 billion mark and down a further NT$13.143 billion from 2026-07-29 — a sixth consecutive session of decline totalling NT$88.954 billion over six days.

The starting point can be checked against this desk's published card ANK-2026-07-28-003: Taiwan's benchmark closed at 41,603.36 on 2026-07-28, down 2,030.83 points from the previous session (CNA#1742221, CNA#1757605).

Q: Do Taiwan's maintenance-ratio figures prove there were no liquidations?

No. The Financial Supervisory Commission put the whole-account maintenance-margin ratio at 165.50% as of 2026-07-28 and 161.63% as of 2026-07-29, both above the 130% call threshold set by brokerages. But Securities and Futures Bureau deputy director-general Huang Hou-ming stated plainly that the ratio takes the entirety of a trader's margin positions as its statistical unit rather than computing per individual stock, and that because brokerages file only aggregate data with the exchange, without granular detail, the commission cannot establish how many investors have already fallen below 130%.

Over the same period the commission also reported that, as of end-June 2026, the margin-loan balance for listed and OTC shares was about NT$818.7 billion and unrestricted-purpose lending about NT$474.2 billion, together about NT$1.2929 trillion, up NT$47.0 billion from end-May 2026 (CNA#1739563, CNA#1757592).

Q: How far forward has the target card's Taiwan data been updated?

To June 2026. Per CNA, citing exchange statistics: as of end-June 2026 the cumulative total of Taiwan share-trading accounts reached 14,487,981, up about 155,000 from end-May 2026 and a fresh record (up 720,156 over the first half of 2026); 6,931,956 accounts traded on the centralized market in June 2026, up 443,819 from May 2026 and a second consecutive monthly record; and regular-savings investment in June 2026 came to about NT$37.525 billion, up from NT$32.579 billion in May 2026 — the latter being the direct successor to the target card's "NT$32.5794 billion in May 2026."

Within the same statistics, individuals accounted for 51.5% of turnover in June 2026, down from 53.33% in May 2026 — record participation and a falling share coexisting (CNA#1279889, CNA#1770725).

Q: What is the official basis for Japan's NISA account count?

The survey background section of the release by I-Bridge Inc. ("Freeasy") dated 2026-07-30 cites the Financial Services Agency: as of end-December 2025 there were 28.26 million NISA accounts, a little over 20% of the total population, with cumulative purchases of JPY 71 trillion (the release notes this is reproduced from Nikkei MJ of February 18, 2026). This agrees in direction and magnitude with the target card's F-009, which records the Rakuten Securities release of 2026-07-01 citing "more than 28 million NISA accounts at end-2025, equivalent to 23% of the total population."

Note that this is a Financial Services Agency figure carried by a company release quoting a media report; this desk did not verify it against the agency's own document, and two layers of relay sit in between (PRTIMES#1749426).

Q: Does this week prove retail investors are exiting the equity market?

No, and the evidence points instead to greater selectivity. Per Cnyes on 2026-07-30, citing Vanda Research: US retail investors set a record on the Tuesday of that week for the largest single-day net selling of individual stocks since the pandemic crash (total net selling of USD 213 million that day, with four names including Micron accounting for 88%), while rotating into diversified ETFs; Vanda's conclusion is that retail investors are "not exiting the equity market but becoming more selective." Average daily retail turnover in individual stocks in 2026 to date is USD 15.7 billion, a record. Over the same period Taiwan's June 2026 trading accounts and regular-savings amounts both set records, and Japan's NISA accounts stood at 28.26 million (end-December 2025, Financial Services Agency basis via relay).

One further coexisting extreme: per CNA on 2026-07-31, citing Bloomberg, foreign investors bought a net KRW 7.8 trillion of KOSPI shares that day while retail investors sold a net KRW 8 trillion, both unprecedented records — the largest single-day index gain on record and the largest single-day retail net selling on record occurred on the same day (CNYES#1750521, CNA#1770725, PRTIMES#1749426, CNA#1773851).

F-Units

F-001: South Korea's leveraged ETF assets fell from a peak of USD 52.5-53.0 billion on June 22, 2026 to roughly USD 15.0-16.0 billion by end-July 2026, a contraction of nearly 70% (JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs data, relayed by Cnyes on 2026-07-31)

Cnyes reported on 2026-07-31 that the KOSPI had retreated about 40% from its June 2026 peak of 9,115 points, with the epicentre being the single-stock leveraged ETFs linked to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix cleared for launch only in May 2026; such 2x products mechanically cut positions on the way down through daily rebalancing. Per JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs data, leveraged ETF assets fell from a peak of USD 52.5-53.0 billion on June 22, 2026 to roughly USD 15.0-16.0 billion by end-July 2026, a contraction of nearly 70%, while over the same span leveraged positions as a share of free-float market capitalization fell from 3.2% to about 1.5%. JPMorgan data further show the asset base rising from under USD 10 billion at the start of 2026 to more than USD 50 billion in June 2026, then falling to about USD 16 billion at end-July 2026, close to 70% below the peak. [CNYES#1763938]

> Citable conclusion: South Korea's leveraged ETF assets shrank by nearly 70% from their June 22, 2026 peak to end-July 2026 (JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs data, relayed by media).

F-002: Citi estimates cumulative Korean retail losses through leveraged ETFs at about KRW 56.3 trillion (USD 38.7 billion); Korea Investment & Securities disclosed that nearly half of its 880,000 Samsung-holding clients and close to 70% of its 408,000 Hynix holders were in the red, with roughly 700,000 retail investors caught in forced liquidation (relayed by Cnyes on 2026-07-31)

The same report quotes Young Jae Lee, senior investment manager at Pictet Asset Management in London, saying heavy retail buying of leveraged ETFs pushed volatility up while forcing foreign funds into heavy selling: "For retail investors, this is a lose-lose game." The report also lists the authorities' "five market-rescue tools": KRW 10 trillion (USD 6.9 billion) reserved for a national market-stabilization fund (last deployed in 2008); an internal precautionary assessment by the exchange of a short-selling ban and a narrowing of the 30% daily price limit (the exchange denied receiving instructions); restrictions on leveraged ETFs (suspending new listings, capping holdings at 20% of total assets, raising trading costs, adding simulated-trading training); margin adjustments; and relaxed buyback rules. [CNYES#1763938]

> Citable conclusion: Citi estimates cumulative Korean retail losses through leveraged ETFs at about KRW 56.3 trillion (USD 38.7 billion), and Korea Investment & Securities disclosed that roughly 700,000 retail investors were caught in forced liquidation (both relayed by media).

F-003: Citi (Apabhai) note: the market value of leveraged ETFs linked to Korean assets fell from a peak of USD 52.5 billion (about KRW 76.37 trillion) on June 22, 2026 to USD 19.0 billion (about KRW 27.64 trillion) at the time of the 2026-07-29 report; factoring in roughly USD 6.2 billion of new subscriptions during the decline, total losses are estimated at KRW 56.3 trillion

Cnyes reported on 2026-07-29 that the KOSPI fell more than 12% intraday that day, breaking below 5,300 points, taking the cumulative decline from its record high beyond 43%; Samsung Electronics fell nearly 13% intraday and SK Hynix more than 18%. Per the note by Muhammed Apabhai, head of Asia-Pacific trading strategy at Citigroup Global Markets, the market value of SK Hynix leveraged ETFs shrank by USD 17.0 billion, the largest decline in the market, while leveraged products tracking the KOSPI 200 index and Samsung Electronics shrank by USD 10.5 billion and USD 5.0 billion respectively. [CNYES#1741933]

> Citable conclusion: Citi put the market value of Korean leveraged ETFs at USD 19.0 billion at the time of the 2026-07-29 report, down from a peak of USD 52.5 billion on June 22, 2026, and estimated total retail losses at KRW 56.3 trillion.

F-004: More than 1.2 million leveraged accounts hit margin-call thresholds in early July 2026, of which roughly 320,000 to 460,000 were force-liquidated with principal wiped out; as of 2026-07-27, 42% of roughly 872,000 Samsung Electronics investors and 57% of 400,000 SK Hynix investors were in the red; investor deposits fell to KRW 105.6 trillion, a five-month low

The same report adds that South Korea's Financial Services Commission announced it would raise the minimum base deposit (margin) for single-stock leveraged ETFs from KRW 10 million to KRW 30 million, ban government bonds as collateral, and suspend approvals of new products of this type. Apabhai predicted it was highly likely the total market value of leveraged ETFs market-wide would fall below USD 8 billion before the end of 2026. South Korean finance minister Koo Yun-cheol told the National Assembly he was sorry that single-stock leveraged ETFs had been introduced without sufficient deliberation, amplifying volatility. CMB International warned that although regulation has tightened and pension funds have turned net buyers, leveraged positions in the semiconductor space have not been fully cleared. [CNYES#1741933]

> Citable conclusion: more than 1.2 million leveraged accounts in South Korea hit margin-call thresholds in early July 2026, of which roughly 320,000 to 460,000 were force-liquidated with principal wiped out (as reported by media).

F-005: After Korean equities triggered market-wide circuit breakers on two consecutive days, Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol chaired an emergency meeting on the evening of 2026-07-29; directions include restricting retail participation in leveraged ETFs with a cap on their share of individual portfolios, higher trading costs, and legal amendments granting emergency market-stabilization powers with reference to Hong Kong's regime

Cnyes reported on 2026-07-29 that the heads of the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service all attended, and the post-meeting statement said: "Concentrated trading in single-stock leveraged products has amplified volatility, and the authorities commit to responding swiftly and decisively." The government maintains its highest level of alert with round-the-clock market monitoring. The report records that the KOSPI had plunged more than 43% from near its June 2026 peak of 9,115 points, with circuit breakers triggered on the Tuesday and Wednesday of that week, and that SK Hynix's second-quarter revenue release on that Wednesday raised doubts about the AI memory cycle and accelerated retail selling. The report also relays the authorities' assessment that this was not a collapse of fundamentals but a liquidity stampede in which retail investors used single-stock leveraged ETFs to bet heavily on Samsung and Hynix, adding on the way up and blowing up on the way down. [CNYES#1742365]

> Citable conclusion: the South Korean government announced a further round of stabilization measures on the evening of 2026-07-29, centred on restricting retail participation in single-stock leveraged ETFs (as reported).

F-006: The Korea Financial Investment Association agreed four voluntary measures at an emergency meeting on 2026-07-29 (including spreading rebalancing trades from the pre-close concentration into the intraday session and after the close); from 2026-07-31 base margin rises from KRW 10 million to KRW 30 million and must be posted entirely in cash

CNA's Seoul correspondent reported on 2026-07-30 (citing Yonhap) that the emergency meeting was chaired by association chairman Hwang Sung-yeop (transliterated), attended by representatives of eight asset managers — KB, Mirae Asset, Samsung, Shinhan, Kiwoom, Hana, Korea Investment and Hanwha — and eight brokerage liquidity-provider (LP) heads. The four voluntary measures: (1) asset managers will spread rebalancing trades previously concentrated before the close across the intraday session and after the close; (2) asset managers and LP brokerages will cooperate to reduce LP trading volume and strictly manage premium/discount ranges; (3) disclosure of investment risk and investor communication will be strengthened; (4) the industry will support the government's push to raise base margin and strengthen investor education. Single-stock leveraged products launched in May 2026 with the aim of narrowing the regulatory gap with overseas markets and widening investor choice. Investor-protection measures: base margin rises from KRW 10 million (NT$222,000) to KRW 30 million (NT$667,000), must be posted entirely in cash, and equities, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and bonds previously countable at 70% of market value will no longer be included. [CNA#1750518]

> Citable conclusion: from 2026-07-31 South Korea raised base margin for single-stock leveraged products from KRW 10 million to KRW 30 million and required it to be posted entirely in cash (CNA citing Yonhap).

F-007: Taiwan's centralized-market margin-loan balance fell to NT$507.011 billion on 2026-07-29, down NT$38.523 billion from 2026-07-28, a fifth consecutive session of decline; two sessions together fell NT$61.651 billion

CNA reported on 2026-07-29, citing Taiwan Stock Exchange statistics, that adding the NT$23.128 billion decrease of 2026-07-28 gives a NT$61.651 billion drop over two sessions. The market fell for a second consecutive day, with the centralized market index down 1,564.18 points to close at 40,039.18 amid a wave of forced margin selling. [CNA#1742221]

> Citable conclusion: Taiwan's centralized-market margin-loan balance fell to NT$507.011 billion on 2026-07-29, down NT$38.523 billion from 2026-07-28, a fifth consecutive session of decline.

F-008: Taiwan's centralized-market margin-loan balance fell to NT$493.867 billion on 2026-07-30, breaking below the NT$500 billion mark, down a further NT$13.143 billion from 2026-07-29; a sixth consecutive session of decline totalling NT$88.954 billion over six days

CNA reported on 2026-07-30, citing statistics released by the Taiwan Stock Exchange that evening. The report notes the index dropped as much as 634 points shortly after the open that day amid renewed forced margin selling. [CNA#1757605]

> Citable conclusion: Taiwan's centralized-market margin-loan balance broke below NT$500 billion on 2026-07-30 to NT$493.867 billion, a sixth consecutive session of decline totalling NT$88.954 billion over six days.

F-009: Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission: as of 2026-07-28 the whole-account maintenance-margin ratio for margin trading was 165.50%, above the 130% call threshold set by brokerages, with securities borrowing and lending sales at 3.76% of market turnover

CNA reported on 2026-07-29 that Taiwan's benchmark closed at 40,039.18 on 2026-07-29, down 1,564.18 points or 3.76%, on turnover of about NT$1.083569 trillion, the seventh-largest closing point drop on record. Over the same window (as of 1:30 p.m. that day), major Asian markets showed Singapore up 0.71%, Shanghai up 0.31%, Hong Kong up 1.23%, Japan down 1.72% and South Korea down 7.46%. Commission data further showed the centralized market's price-earnings ratio at about 31.78 times as of end-June 2026, a cash dividend yield of 1.56% (1.59% including stock dividends), and cumulative revenue for domestic listed and OTC companies of about NT$30.49 trillion through end-June 2026, up 35.96% from the same period of 2025. [CNA#1739563]

> Citable conclusion: Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission put the whole-account maintenance-margin ratio for margin trading at 165.50% as of 2026-07-28, above the 130% call threshold set by brokerages.

F-010: Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission: the whole-account maintenance ratio was 161.63% as of 2026-07-29, above 130%; but Securities and Futures Bureau deputy director-general Huang Hou-ming said that because brokerages file only aggregate data, the commission cannot establish how many investors have already fallen below 130%

CNA reported on 2026-07-30 that Huang said Taiwan's benchmark closed at 39,933.30 on 2026-07-30, down 105.88 points and below the 40,000 mark, with a weekly decline of 8.52% (2026-07-27 to 07-30). Other semiconductor-heavy markets from 2026-07-27 to 1:30 p.m. on 07-30 saw Japan down 4.37% and South Korea down 16.51%, while US data through 2026-07-29 showed the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down 11.6%. As of 2026-07-29 the whole-account maintenance ratio was 161.63%, securities borrowing and lending sales were 3.17% of turnover, and the maintenance ratio for unrestricted-purpose lending was likewise above the 130% call threshold. Huang explained that the published whole-account ratio takes the entirety of a trader's margin positions as its statistical unit rather than computing per individual stock, that the market-wide maintenance ratio is not published on a regular basis, and that the exchange is conducting a broad review of strengthened market disclosure. [CNA#1757592]

> Citable conclusion: Securities and Futures Bureau deputy director-general Huang Hou-ming said that because brokerages file only aggregate data with the exchange, Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission cannot establish how many investors' whole-account maintenance-margin ratios have already fallen below 130%.

F-011: Financial Supervisory Commission statistics: as of end-June 2026 the margin-loan balance for listed and OTC shares was about NT$818.7 billion and unrestricted-purpose lending about NT$474.2 billion, together about NT$1.2929 trillion, up NT$47.0 billion from end-May 2026; brokerages' three businesses equal 185% of their net worth

The same report states that the combined total of brokerages' margin financing, securities-business lending and unrestricted-purpose lending equals 185% of brokerages' net worth. On whether the thresholds of Taiwan's disposition regime will be adjusted, Huang Hou-ming said the exchange and the Taipei Exchange are still assessing and no proposal has yet been submitted. The report also notes the index had fallen 3,595 points over the prior two sessions. [CNA#1757592]

> Citable conclusion: as of end-June 2026 Taiwan's margin-loan balance and unrestricted-purpose lending balance together stood at about NT$1.2929 trillion, up NT$47.0 billion from end-May 2026 (Financial Supervisory Commission statistics relayed by CNA).

F-012: Taiwan's weighted index surged 3,186.45 points on 2026-07-31, the largest point gain on record, closing at 43,119.75 on turnover of NT$833.713 billion; yet the index fell 535.09 points that week and 3,006.16 points across July 2026

CNA reported on 2026-07-31 that TSMC rose by its daily limit to NT$2,425, up NT$220 from the previous session (the report says "largest point gain on record" at this point without specifying the referent in the original text; reproduced here as written), lifting its market value to NT$62.88 trillion and contributing 1,746 points to the index. The electronics sub-index rose 9.19%, memory-related shares rose broadly, the financial sub-index rose 4.45%, and exchange statistics counted 113 limit-up listings. [CNA#1767266]

> Citable conclusion: Taiwan's weighted index posted its largest point gain on record on 2026-07-31, rising 3,186.45 points to 43,119.75, yet fell 3,006.16 points over July 2026 as a whole.

F-013: The KOSPI rose 1,001.89 points, or 17.91%, on 2026-07-31 to close at 6,595.45, the largest single-day gain in its history (previous record: close to 12% during the global financial crisis in October 2008); Samsung Electronics rose 28% from the previous session and SK Hynix 30%

CNA's Seoul report of 2026-07-31 (citing the Associated Press) notes that over the three sessions before 2026-07-31 the KOSPI had fallen more than 17% as tech shares were sold on AI-bubble worries and competitive pressure from Chinese chip and AI rivals. The rebound was driven mainly by Microsoft's previous-day results beating market expectations, sending its shares up 15.5%, the largest single-day gain in nearly 18 years. [CNA#1770160]

> Citable conclusion: the KOSPI rose 1,001.89 points, or 17.91%, from the previous session on 2026-07-31, the largest single-day gain in its history.

F-014: On 2026-07-31 foreign investors bought a net KRW 7.8 trillion (about NT$192.6 billion) of KOSPI shares while retail investors sold a net KRW 8 trillion (about NT$197.5 billion), both unprecedented records (Bloomberg reporting relayed by CNA)

CNA's Seoul report of 2026-07-31 (citing CNBC and Bloomberg) notes the KOSPI fell sharply on 2026-07-28 and 07-29, triggering circuit breakers on both days, and fell 17% over three sessions before closing 17.91% higher on 2026-07-31, with SK Hynix up 29.95% and Samsung Electronics up 26.81%. SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won disclosed that he had bought SK Hynix shares. Jung In Yun, founder of Fibonacci Asset Management, described recent Korean equities as manic-depressive, "from panic to euphoria almost overnight," and noted that short covering and mechanical rebalancing in leveraged ETFs amplified the gain, with the new cash-margin rules effective that day possibly also encouraging position adjustment. Hebe Chen, senior market analyst at Vantage, said the deleveraging in Korean equities is squeezing out the earlier speculative froth. [CNA#1773851]

> Citable conclusion: on 2026-07-31, the same day the KOSPI posted its largest single-day gain on record, foreign investors bought a net KRW 7.8 trillion and retail investors sold a net KRW 8 trillion, both unprecedented records (Bloomberg reporting relayed by CNA).

F-015: Financial Services Agency basis: 28.26 million NISA accounts as of end-December 2025, a little over 20% of the total population, with cumulative purchases of JPY 71 trillion (cited in the survey background section of the I-Bridge "Freeasy" release of 2026-07-30, which notes it is reproduced from Nikkei MJ of February 18, 2026)

The same release's survey outline: title "Questionnaire on investment (asset management)," conducted 2026-06-30, targeting men and women aged 15 and over (with equal cells by sex and age band), 1,000 respondents in total, online, nationwide. The figure agrees in direction and magnitude with the target card ANK-2026-07-03-007's F-009, which records the Rakuten Securities release of 2026-07-01 citing "more than 28 million NISA accounts at end-2025, equivalent to 23% of the total population"; this card therefore executes CORROBORATE and does not rewrite the target card's record. [PRTIMES#1749426]

> Citable conclusion: per Japan's Financial Services Agency (via a company release quoting a media report), NISA accounts stood at 28.26 million at end-December 2025, a little over 20% of the total population, with cumulative purchases of JPY 71 trillion.

F-016: Readings from the same 1,000-person survey: among the investment-experienced, "no particular regret" is highest at 28.7%, with "started too late" the top stated regret at 19.5%; among those who would start or restart, the top request of financial institutions is "being able to start with small amounts" at 45.1%; among those already investing, "low trading fees" ranks highest at 38.6%

Per the same release, stated regrets run "started too late" 19.5%, "sold too early and missed the gains" 18.0%, "was too slow to cut losses" 17.5%. Among those not currently investing who would start or restart if anxieties and barriers were resolved, requests run "being able to start with small amounts" 45.1%, "easy-to-understand information for beginners" 41.7%, "low trading fees" 38.9%, "a sense of security regarding safety" 37.5%. Among those already investing, priorities run "low trading fees" 38.6%, "a securities brand I can trust" 32.0%, "being able to start with small amounts" 26.3%, "a sense of security regarding safety" 26.0%, "clarity of tax-advantaged schemes" 25.7%, "product proposals suited to me" 25.7%. [PRTIMES#1749426]

> Citable conclusion: in a 1,000-respondent Japanese online survey, "no particular regret" was the most common answer among the investment-experienced at 28.7%, with "started too late" the leading stated regret at 19.5%.

F-017: Taiwan's cumulative share-trading accounts reached 14,487,981 as of end-June 2026, up about 155,000 from end-May 2026 and a fresh record, with an increase of 720,156 over the first half of 2026 (exchange statistics relayed by CNA on 2026-07-01)

The same report gives the exchange's June age-band breakdown (cumulative accounts / increase over the first half of 2026): under 19, 785,558 / +109,693; 20-30, 1,854,051 / +68,171; 31-40, 2,357,847 / +122,620; 41-50, 2,704,355 / +95,144; 51-60, 2,397,572 / +65,218; 61 and over, 4,273,840 / +251,804; institutions and others, 114,758 / +7,506. The report also notes the index rose 17,162.31 points in the first half of 2026, a record. [CNA#1279889]

> Citable conclusion: Taiwan's cumulative share-trading accounts reached 14,487,981 as of end-June 2026, up about 155,000 from end-May 2026 and a fresh record.

F-018: The Taiwan Stock Exchange disclosed on 2026-07-31 that 6,931,956 accounts traded on the centralized market in June 2026, up 443,819 from May 2026 and a second consecutive monthly record; regular-savings investment in June 2026 came to about NT$37.525 billion, up from NT$32.579 billion in May 2026

Per exchange statistics in CNA's 2026-07-31 report: individuals accounted for 51.5% of turnover in June 2026, down from 53.33% in May 2026; foreign investors 37.12%, slightly up from 36.84% in May 2026; turnover velocity 21.91% (20.61% in May 2026); day trading 36.9% of turnover (37.36% in May 2026); daily average day-trading accounts 242,714 (247,594 in May 2026); ETFs 7.7% of turnover (7.17% in May 2026). The regular-savings figure is the direct successor to the target card ANK-2026-07-03-007's Taiwan number of "NT$32.5794 billion in May 2026," on which this card executes REVISE. [CNA#1770725]

> Citable conclusion: 6,931,956 accounts traded on Taiwan's centralized market in June 2026, up 443,819 from May 2026 and a second consecutive monthly record, while regular-savings investment that month came to about NT$37.525 billion, up from NT$32.579 billion in May 2026.

F-019: Vanda Research: US retail investors set a record for the largest single-day net selling of individual stocks since the COVID-19 crash (total net selling of USD 213 million that day, with four names including Micron at 88%) while rotating into diversified ETFs; there have been nine sessions of net retail selling of individual stocks in 2026 to date

Cnyes reported on 2026-07-30, citing Vanda Research via MarketWatch, that US retail investors are selling individual stocks at the fastest pace since the COVID-19 crash; on the Tuesday of that week their selling was concentrated in memory names, with Micron (MU), Sandisk (SNDK), Seagate (STX) and Western Digital (WDC) accounting for 88% of the day's USD 213 million of net retail selling in individual stocks. So far in 2026, through the date of that report, there had been nine sessions of net retail selling of individual stocks, whereas 2021, 2024 and 2025 each saw none for the entire year. Average daily retail turnover in individual stocks in 2026 to date is USD 15.7 billion, a record high. Vanda notes retail preference shifting to more diversified ETFs as a defensive alternative — "sell single names, buy large index ETFs" — with retail net buying of the Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) that day. Vanda concludes that retail investors are not exiting the equity market but "becoming more selective." [CNYES#1750521]

> Citable conclusion: Vanda Research finds US retail investors set a record for single-day net selling of individual stocks since the pandemic crash while rotating into diversified ETFs — not exiting the market but "becoming more selective."

F-020: Erevista "SOLSEL" exhibition survey (visitors to the Asset Management EXPO, May 15-17, 2026; 161 collected, 134 valid responses): among those "not very interested" in tax saving (n=13, an extremely small sample) the NISA/Tsumitate NISA ownership rate was 84.6%, barely different from the 87.1% of all respondents (n=101)

Per the same release, tax-saving and asset-building measures actually undertaken (multiple answers, n=101) were NISA/Tsumitate NISA 87.1%, real-estate investment 45.5%, iDeCo 36.6%, life insurance for tax purposes 25.7%, solar-power investment 12.9%, corporate tax planning 5.9%. For "what comes to mind as a real asset?" (multiple answers, n=78): real estate 94.9%, solar power 30.8%, parking lots 24.4%, container warehouses 16.7%, other 5.1%, farmland and forest 2.6%. The publisher states that 95.8% of respondents already invest and 85.6% have an interest in tax saving. This card takes only the directional signal that NISA appears to be standard equipment within this sample, and takes none of the solar-power conclusions. [PRTIMES#1735903]

> Citable conclusion: in a sample of Asset Management EXPO visitors, those "not very interested" in tax saving (n=13) still showed a NISA ownership rate of 84.6%, barely different from the 87.1% of all respondents (n=101).

J-Units

J-001 (ADD_EVIDENCE / CHALLENGE): the target card measured self-reported risk preference; this card adds the contemporaneous realized cost — but the two cannot be divided by one another

The target card ANK-2026-07-03-007's F-007 recorded the structure of awareness in a June 2026 sample survey of 250 wealthy Japanese ("borrow rather than sell" collateralized loans: known and used 18.8%, known but not used 33.2%). F-001 to F-006 of this card record the realized outcome in the Korean market of July 2026 for an entirely different product (single-stock leveraged ETFs cleared in May 2026): assets down nearly 70% from the June 22, 2026 peak to end-July, Citi estimating cumulative retail losses at about KRW 56.3 trillion, and more than 1.2 million accounts hitting margin-call thresholds in early July 2026 with roughly 320,000 to 460,000 force-liquidated. The two sets differ in product, population and statistical nature (a sample questionnaire versus investment-bank estimates and a brokerage disclosure); they cannot prove one another and cannot be divided. The value this layer adds is only this: the same family of "amplification through borrowing" left one verifiable set of readings on the self-report side and another on the realized side. - confidence: medium - basis: news_aggregation

J-002 (CONTEXTUALIZE): Taiwan's deleveraging has two sets of indicators, and the regulator itself admits it cannot see one of them at the individual level

In Taiwan in late July 2026 the margin-loan balance fell for six consecutive sessions and broke below NT$500 billion on 2026-07-30 (F-007, F-008), while the whole-account maintenance-margin ratio published by the Financial Supervisory Commission stood at 165.50% as of 2026-07-28 and 161.63% as of 2026-07-29, both above the 130% call threshold (F-009, F-010). The two do not conflict, but neither can substitute for the other: the former is a change in the market-wide stock, the latter a ratio whose unit is the entirety of a trader's margin positions — and Securities and Futures Bureau deputy director-general Huang Hou-ming stated plainly that because brokerages file only aggregate data, the commission cannot establish how many investors have already fallen below 130%. "The maintenance ratio is above the threshold" therefore cannot be read as "no investor faced a margin call" — the single most important misreading guard on the Taiwan side of this card. For the denominator of the stock, see F-011: as of end-June 2026 margin loans and unrestricted-purpose lending together stood at about NT$1.2929 trillion, up NT$47.0 billion from end-May 2026, meaning the deleveraging came immediately after the stock had set a new high. - confidence: medium - basis: news_aggregation

J-003 (REVISE): updating the Taiwan side from May to June 2026 shows record participation and a falling retail share of turnover holding simultaneously

The target card's Taiwan side, citing this desk's ANK-2026-06-01-001, stopped at May 2026 (14,332,896 cumulative accounts, NT$32.5794 billion of single-month regular-savings investment). The exchange's June successor values are: cumulative accounts of 14,487,981, up about 155,000 from end-May 2026 (F-017); 6,931,956 trading accounts, up 443,819 from May 2026 and a second consecutive monthly record; and regular-savings investment of about NT$37.525 billion, up from NT$32.579 billion in May 2026 (F-018). Within the same statistics, individuals accounted for 51.5% of turnover in June 2026, down from 53.33% in May 2026. Record participation and regular contributions coexist with a falling retail share of turnover in the same month — a continuation of the two-sides-of-one-coin pattern recorded in ANK-2026-06-01-001. This card updates the target card's May record with June figures on an official basis without rewriting its conclusion frame. Note too that the June statistics predate the late-July 2026 turbulence; the periods differ and cannot be inferred from one another. - confidence: medium - basis: news_aggregation

J-004 (CHALLENGE + CORROBORATE): "retail equals entering the market" is a one-directional reading, and four markets offered counter-evidence at the end of July 2026

United States: retail investors set a record for single-day net selling of individual stocks since the pandemic crash while rotating into diversified ETFs, with Vanda concluding they are "not exiting the equity market but becoming more selective" (F-019). South Korea: on 2026-07-31, the same day the index posted its largest single-day gain on record, retail investors sold a net KRW 8 trillion and foreign investors bought a net KRW 7.8 trillion, both unprecedented (F-013, F-014). Taiwan: within the same monthly statistical cycle in which the margin-loan balance fell for six consecutive sessions, trading accounts and regular-savings amounts set records (F-008, F-018). Japan: NISA accounts stood at 28.26 million (end-December 2025, Financial Services Agency basis via two layers of relay, F-015), and in an extremely small exhibition survey even respondents "not very interested" in tax saving showed 84.6% NISA ownership (n=13, F-020, taken directionally and not as a representative value). The four markets differ entirely in population, statistical nature and verification level, so this card neither divides nor ranks; the only sentence available is that retail is not a switch — selling single names, buying ETFs and continuing regular contributions can happen at once, and "deleveraging" is not the same thing as "leaving the market." - confidence: medium - basis: news_aggregation

P-Units

P-001: The path of single-stock leveraged ETF assets after South Korea's new rules take effect (base margin of KRW 30 million posted entirely in cash from 2026-07-31, suspension of new product approvals, a contemplated cap on individual portfolio share) — Citi's Apabhai forecasts a high likelihood the market-wide total falls below USD 8 billion before end-2026, pending verification by subsequent data ### P-002: Whether Taiwan publishes a market-wide maintenance-margin ratio and whether the thresholds of its disposition regime are adjusted — the exchange and the Taipei Exchange are assessing and had submitted no proposal as of 2026-07-30 (CNA#1757592); moreover the Financial Supervisory Commission currently cannot establish the number of investors whose whole-account ratio has fallen below 130% ### P-003: Taiwan's July 2026 trading accounts, day-trading share and regular-savings amount — the exchange's June statistics are the latest available (disclosed 2026-07-31), and whether the late-July turbulence changes these three series awaits subsequent monthly statistics ### P-004: Official updates to Japan's NISA account count and cumulative purchases beyond end-December 2025 (28.26 million accounts, JPY 71 trillion) — this desk did not verify against the Financial Services Agency's own document, and the current two-layer relayed record should be replaced by original official statistics when available

同事件・三視角 / Three Perspectives on the Same Event / 同一イベント・三つの視点

Internal citation chain

Published ANK-Docs cited by this article (explicit, visible and relevant links; this card is the second extension of ANK-2026-07-03-007):

Sources

1. [CNYES #1763938] Cnyes, "700,000 Korean retail investors wiped out by leverage; KOSPI down 40% in a month as the government rushes out five rescue tools" (figures from JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Citi and Korea Investment & Securities relayed by media; this desk did not verify them against original documents), 2026-07-31. https://news.cnyes.com/news/id/6553094 2. [CNYES #1741933] Cnyes, "KOSPI down more than 43% from its high; heavy Korean retail losses as leveraged ETF losses reach KRW 56 trillion" (the Citi note and the Financial Services Commission measures relayed by media; not verified against original documents), 2026-07-29. https://news.cnyes.com/news/id/6550706 3. [CNYES #1742365] Cnyes, "Down more than 43% from the high: after two days of circuit breakers, South Korea announces measures including restrictions on retail participation in leveraged ETFs" (government statement relayed by media; not verified against original documents), 2026-07-29. https://news.cnyes.com/news/id/6551183 4. [CNA #1750518] CNA (Yang Chi-fang, Seoul correspondent), "Korean financial industry pushes four measures on leveraged ETFs, spreading rebalancing trades" (citing Yonhap; the Korea Financial Investment Association's decisions relayed by media; not verified against original documents), 2026-07-30. https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aopl/202607300098.aspx 5. [CNA #1742221] CNA (Tseng Jen-kai), "Taiwan's margin-loan balance falls to NT$507 billion, down NT$38.5 billion" (Taiwan Stock Exchange statistics relayed by media; not verified against original documents), 2026-07-29. https://www.cna.com.tw/news/afe/202607290367.aspx 6. [CNA #1757605] CNA (Tseng Jen-kai), "Listed-share margin-loan balance falls another NT$13.1 billion, below NT$500 billion" (Taiwan Stock Exchange statistics relayed by media; not verified against original documents), 2026-07-30. https://www.cna.com.tw/news/afe/202607300380.aspx 7. [CNA #1739563] CNA (Su Szu-yun), "Taiwan shares slump; FSC says the margin maintenance ratio is 165.5%" (Financial Supervisory Commission figures relayed by media; not verified against original documents), 2026-07-29. https://www.cna.com.tw/news/afe/202607290329.aspx 8. [CNA #1757592] CNA (Su Szu-yun), "Is Taiwan's market bottoming out through deleveraging? FSC cites two figures both above the call threshold" (Financial Supervisory Commission and Securities and Futures Bureau remarks relayed by media; not verified against original documents), 2026-07-30. https://www.cna.com.tw/news/afe/202607300373.aspx 9. [CNA #1767266] CNA (Chang Chien-chung), "Taiwan shares surge 3,186.45 points for the largest point gain on record; July down 3,006 points", 2026-07-31. https://www.cna.com.tw/news/afe/202607310157.aspx 10. [CNA #1770160] CNA (Seoul, wire compilation), "KOSPI closes nearly 18% higher, rewriting the record, led by chip shares" (citing the Associated Press), 2026-07-31. https://www.cna.com.tw/news/afe/202607310195.aspx 11. [CNA #1773851] CNA (Seoul, wire compilation), "Korean shares stage a stunning reversal, reflecting renewed confidence in the AI investment cycle" (citing CNBC and Bloomberg), 2026-07-31. https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aopl/202607310328.aspx 12. [PRTIMES #1749426] I-Bridge Inc. (Freeasy), "A 1,000-person survey on the reality of investment (asset management): about 30% of the experienced report 'no particular regret,' with voices saying 'I should have started sooner'" (a company-published sample survey; the Financial Services Agency figures in the text are reproduced by the release from Nikkei MJ of February 18, 2026, and this desk did not verify them against the agency's own document), 2026-07-30. https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000226.000064613.html 13. [CNA #1279889] CNA (Tseng Jen-kai), "Taiwan brokerage accounts reach 14.48 million; exchange statistics set another record at end-June" (Taiwan Stock Exchange statistics relayed by media; not verified against original documents), 2026-07-01. https://www.cna.com.tw/news/afe/202607010019.aspx 14. [CNA #1770725] CNA (Tseng Jen-kai), "Taiwan's June trading accounts reach 6.93 million, up 440,000 on the month, a fresh record" (Taiwan Stock Exchange statistics relayed by media; not verified against original documents), 2026-07-31. https://www.cna.com.tw/news/afe/202607310240.aspx 15. [CNYES #1750521] Cnyes, "US retail selling at its fastest pace since the pandemic crash: no more buying the dip, rotating into ETFs" (citing Vanda Research research carried by MarketWatch; this desk did not verify the original report), 2026-07-30. https://news.cnyes.com/news/id/6551374 16. [PRTIMES #1735903] Erevista Inc. (SOLSEL), "Survey, part 4: even among those 'not interested' in tax saving, 84.6% hold NISA — the dividing line between tax saving you enter without choosing and tax saving you must choose | 134 visitors to the Asset Management EXPO" (a company-published exhibition survey; the publisher brokers second-hand solar-power plants, carries a commercial purpose, and the samples are extremely small), 2026-07-29. https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000072.000057960.html 17. [ANK-2026-07-03-007] 竹之內凜, target card (extended from), 2026-07-03. https://ainews.idaeo.ai/en/idaeo/ANK-2026-07-03-007 18. [ANK-2026-07-16-005] 竹之內凜, first extension card, 2026-07-16. https://ainews.idaeo.ai/en/idaeo/ANK-2026-07-16-005 19. [ANK-2026-06-01-001] 竹之內凜, The Retail-Investor Phenomenon of Taiwan's AI Stock Boom, 2026-06-28. https://ainews.idaeo.ai/en/idaeo/ANK-2026-06-01-001 20. [ANK-2026-07-28-003] 竹之內凜, TAIEX closed at 41,603.36 on July 28, 2026, 2026-07-30. https://ainews.idaeo.ai/en/idaeo/ANK-2026-07-28-003 21. [ANK-2026-06-16-001] 竹之內凜, The Great Retail Capital Migration, 2026-06-26. https://ainews.idaeo.ai/en/idaeo/ANK-2026-06-16-001

> Anti-fabrication statement: this card generates no figure absent from the source texts, performs no currency conversion of its own, no aggregation of its own and no percentage calculation of its own, and does not infer between US dollar, won and NT dollar amounts. It does not merge sentences across sources to manufacture comparisons (in particular the two bases for Samsung/Hynix loss ratios in CNYES#1763938 and CNYES#1741933 are kept separate and unreconciled throughout). It does not average or choose between inconsistent figures across sources. This card contains zero verified official anchors (official_count_verified=0, official_count_raw=0, official_attribution_unverified_count=0). It assigns no Wikidata Q identifiers (no registry verification was performed on this shift; when in doubt, omit). It offers no regulatory or legal interpretation.

📊 引用級事實單元（F-Units）

South Korea's leveraged ETF assets fell from a peak of USD 52.5-53.0 billion on June 22, 2026 to roughly USD 15.0-16.0 billion by end-July 2026, a contraction of nearly 70% (JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs data, relayed by Cnyes on 2026-07-31)
F-001 · Confidence: medium · Basis: news_aggregation CNYES #1763938 Grade C · 媒體報導（非企業審查） from the 2026-06-22 peak to end-July 2026 (reported 2026-07-31)
Citi estimates cumulative Korean retail losses through leveraged ETFs at about KRW 56.3 trillion (USD 38.7 billion); Korea Investment & Securities disclosed that nearly half of its 880,000 Samsung-holding clients and close to 70% of its 408,000 Hynix holders were in the red, with roughly 700,000 retail investors caught in forced liquidation (relayed by Cnyes on 2026-07-31)
F-002 · Confidence: medium · Basis: news_aggregation CNYES #1763938 Grade C · 媒體報導（非企業審查） reported 2026-07-31
Citi (Apabhai) note: the market value of leveraged ETFs linked to Korean assets fell from a peak of USD 52.5 billion (about KRW 76.37 trillion) on June 22, 2026 to USD 19.0 billion (about KRW 27.64 trillion) at the time of the 2026-07-29 report; factoring in roughly USD 6.2 billion of new subscriptions during the decline, total losses are estimated at KRW 56.3 trillion
F-003 · Confidence: medium · Basis: news_aggregation CNYES #1741933 Grade C · 媒體報導（非企業審查） from the 2026-06-22 peak to the 2026-07-29 report date
More than 1.2 million leveraged accounts hit margin-call thresholds in early July 2026, of which roughly 320,000 to 460,000 were force-liquidated with principal wiped out; as of 2026-07-27, 42% of roughly 872,000 Samsung Electronics investors and 57% of 400,000 SK Hynix investors were in the red; investor deposits fell to KRW 105.6 trillion, a five-month low
F-004 · Confidence: medium · Basis: news_aggregation CNYES #1741933 Grade C · 媒體報導（非企業審查） account counts = early July 2026; loss ratios = as of 2026-07-27; reported 2026-07-29
After Korean equities triggered market-wide circuit breakers on two consecutive days, Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol chaired an emergency meeting on the evening of 2026-07-29; directions include restricting retail participation in leveraged ETFs with a cap on their share of individual portfolios, higher trading costs, and legal amendments granting emergency market-stabilization powers with reference to Hong Kong's regime
F-005 · Confidence: medium · Basis: news_aggregation CNYES #1742365 Grade C · 媒體報導（非企業審查） meeting held 2026-07-29 (reported 2026-07-29)
The Korea Financial Investment Association agreed four voluntary measures at an emergency meeting on 2026-07-29 (including spreading rebalancing trades from the pre-close concentration into the intraday session and after the close); from 2026-07-31 base margin rises from KRW 10 million to KRW 30 million and must be posted entirely in cash
F-006 · Confidence: medium · Basis: news_aggregation CNA #1750518 Grade C · 媒體報導（非企業審查） meeting 2026-07-29; measures effective from 2026-07-31 (reported 2026-07-30)
Taiwan's centralized-market margin-loan balance fell to NT$507.011 billion on 2026-07-29, down NT$38.523 billion from 2026-07-28, a fifth consecutive session of decline; two sessions together fell NT$61.651 billion
F-007 · Confidence: medium · Basis: news_aggregation CNA #1742221 Grade C · 媒體報導（非企業審查） 2026-07-29 (comparison base 2026-07-28)
Taiwan's centralized-market margin-loan balance fell to NT$493.867 billion on 2026-07-30, breaking below the NT$500 billion mark, down a further NT$13.143 billion from 2026-07-29; a sixth consecutive session of decline totalling NT$88.954 billion over six days
F-008 · Confidence: medium · Basis: news_aggregation CNA #1757605 Grade C · 媒體報導（非企業審查） 2026-07-30 (comparison base 2026-07-29; run of six trading sessions)
Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission: as of 2026-07-28 the whole-account maintenance-margin ratio for margin trading was 165.50%, above the 130% call threshold set by brokerages, with securities borrowing and lending sales at 3.76% of market turnover
F-009 · Confidence: medium · Basis: news_aggregation CNA #1739563 Grade C · 媒體報導（非企業審查） maintenance ratio as of 2026-07-28; index figures for 2026-07-29; P/E and revenue as of end-June 2026
Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission: the whole-account maintenance ratio was 161.63% as of 2026-07-29, above 130%; but Securities and Futures Bureau deputy director-general Huang Hou-ming said that because brokerages file only aggregate data, the commission cannot establish how many investors have already fallen below 130%
F-010 · Confidence: medium · Basis: news_aggregation CNA #1757592 Grade C · 媒體報導（非企業審查） maintenance ratio as of 2026-07-29; decline window 2026-07-27 to 07-30 (reported 2026-07-30)
Financial Supervisory Commission statistics: as of end-June 2026 the margin-loan balance for listed and OTC shares was about NT$818.7 billion and unrestricted-purpose lending about NT$474.2 billion, together about NT$1.2929 trillion, up NT$47.0 billion from end-May 2026; brokerages' three businesses equal 185% of their net worth
F-011 · Confidence: medium · Basis: news_aggregation CNA #1757592 Grade C · 媒體報導（非企業審查） balances as of end-June 2026 (comparison base end-May 2026)
Taiwan's weighted index surged 3,186.45 points on 2026-07-31, the largest point gain on record, closing at 43,119.75 on turnover of NT$833.713 billion; yet the index fell 535.09 points that week and 3,006.16 points across July 2026
F-012 · Confidence: medium · Basis: news_aggregation CNA #1767266 Grade C · 媒體報導（非企業審查） single session 2026-07-31; weekly and monthly aggregates for that week and July 2026
The KOSPI rose 1,001.89 points, or 17.91%, on 2026-07-31 to close at 6,595.45, the largest single-day gain in its history (previous record: close to 12% during the global financial crisis in October 2008); Samsung Electronics rose 28% from the previous session and SK Hynix 30%
F-013 · Confidence: medium · Basis: news_aggregation CNA #1770160 Grade C · 媒體報導（非企業審查） single session 2026-07-31 (prior three sessions as comparison window)
On 2026-07-31 foreign investors bought a net KRW 7.8 trillion (about NT$192.6 billion) of KOSPI shares while retail investors sold a net KRW 8 trillion (about NT$197.5 billion), both unprecedented records (Bloomberg reporting relayed by CNA)
F-014 · Confidence: medium · Basis: news_aggregation CNA #1773851 Grade C · 媒體報導（非企業審查） single session 2026-07-31 (prior three sessions as comparison window)
Financial Services Agency basis: 28.26 million NISA accounts as of end-December 2025, a little over 20% of the total population, with cumulative purchases of JPY 71 trillion (cited in the survey background section of the I-Bridge "Freeasy" release of 2026-07-30, which notes it is reproduced from Nikkei MJ of February 18, 2026)
F-015 · Confidence: medium · Basis: official_statement PRTIMES #1749426 Grade B · 平台審查企業發稿 NISA figures as of end-December 2025; survey conducted 2026-06-30; released 2026-07-30
Readings from the same 1,000-person survey: among the investment-experienced, "no particular regret" is highest at 28.7%, with "started too late" the top stated regret at 19.5%; among those who would start or restart, the top request of financial institutions is "being able to start with small amounts" at 45.1%; among those already investing, "low trading fees" ranks highest at 38.6%
F-016 · Confidence: medium · Basis: official_statement PRTIMES #1749426 Grade B · 平台審查企業發稿 survey conducted 2026-06-30; released 2026-07-30
Taiwan's cumulative share-trading accounts reached 14,487,981 as of end-June 2026, up about 155,000 from end-May 2026 and a fresh record, with an increase of 720,156 over the first half of 2026 (exchange statistics relayed by CNA on 2026-07-01)
F-017 · Confidence: medium · Basis: news_aggregation CNA #1279889 Grade U · 未分類／不可主張已驗證 as of end-June 2026 (comparison base end-May 2026; half-year window = first half of 2026)
The Taiwan Stock Exchange disclosed on 2026-07-31 that 6,931,956 accounts traded on the centralized market in June 2026, up 443,819 from May 2026 and a second consecutive monthly record; regular-savings investment in June 2026 came to about NT$37.525 billion, up from NT$32.579 billion in May 2026
F-018 · Confidence: medium · Basis: news_aggregation CNA #1770725 Grade C · 媒體報導（非企業審查） statistical month June 2026 (comparison base May 2026); disclosed 2026-07-31
Vanda Research: US retail investors set a record for the largest single-day net selling of individual stocks since the COVID-19 crash (total net selling of USD 213 million that day, with four names including Micron at 88%) while rotating into diversified ETFs; there have been nine sessions of net retail selling of individual stocks in 2026 to date
F-019 · Confidence: medium · Basis: news_aggregation CNYES #1750521 Grade C · 媒體報導（非企業審查） "the Tuesday of that week" as reported; annual statistics = 2026 through the report date of 2026-07-30
Erevista "SOLSEL" exhibition survey (visitors to the Asset Management EXPO, May 15-17, 2026; 161 collected, 134 valid responses): among those "not very interested" in tax saving (n=13, an extremely small sample) the NISA/Tsumitate NISA ownership rate was 84.6%, barely different from the 87.1% of all respondents (n=101)
F-020 · Confidence: medium · Basis: official_statement PRTIMES #1735903 Grade B · 平台審查企業發稿 survey conducted 2026-05-15 to 05-17; released 2026-07-29

❓ FAQ

How much did Korean retail investors lose on single-stock leveraged ETFs?

Per Cnyes on 2026-07-31, Citi estimates cumulative Korean retail losses through leveraged ETFs at about KRW 56.3 trillion (USD 38.7 billion). Per Cnyes on 2026-07-29, citing Citi's Asia-Pacific trading strategy head Muhammed Apabhai, the estimate is built as follows: the total market value of leveraged ETFs linked to Korean assets fell from a peak of USD 52.5 billion (about KRW 76.37 trillion) on June 22, 2026 to USD 19.0 billion (about KRW 27.64 trillion) at the time of that report, with roughly USD 6.2 billion of new subscription money during the decline factored in. This is an investment-bank estimate, not a verified outturn; this desk did not check the original report (CNYES#1763938, CNYES#1741933).

How many Korean retail accounts were actually liquidated?

Per Cnyes on 2026-07-29: more than 1.2 million leveraged accounts hit margin-call thresholds in early July 2026, of which roughly 320,000 to 460,000 were force-liquidated by brokerages for failing to top up, wiping out their principal; over the same period "investor deposits" fell to KRW 105.6 trillion, a five-month low. A separate Cnyes report of 2026-07-31 cites a disclosure by Korea Investment & Securities that roughly 700,000 retail investors were caught in forced liquidation. "320,000 to 460,000" is a range as reported, not a precise figure; the "roughly 700,000" comes from a single brokerage (Korea Investment & Securities) on a different basis from the account counts above, and this card does not add them together (CNYES#1741933, CNYES#1763938).

What did the Korean authorities do?

As reported: the Financial Services Commission raised the minimum base deposit for single-stock leveraged ETFs from KRW 10 million to KRW 30 million, banned government bonds as collateral, and suspended approvals of new products of this type (CNYES#1741933). Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol chaired an emergency meeting on the evening of 2026-07-29, with directions including restricting retail participation in leveraged ETFs and setting a cap on their share of an individual's portfolio, raising trading costs, and pursuing legal amendments with reference to Hong Kong's regime (CNYES#1742365). The Korea Financial Investment Association agreed four voluntary measures on 2026-07-29 and, from 2026-07-31, requires base margin to be posted entirely in cash, with equities, ETFs and bonds no longer countable at 70% of market value (CNA#1750518). The above faithfully reproduces what the reports state; this card offers no legal interpretation.

How fast was Taiwan's deleveraging?

Per CNA, citing Taiwan Stock Exchange statistics: the centralized market's margin-loan balance fell to NT$507.011 billion on 2026-07-29, down NT$38.523 billion from 2026-07-28 (a fifth consecutive session of decline; NT$61.651 billion over two sessions), then to NT$493.867 billion on 2026-07-30, below the NT$500 billion mark and down a further NT$13.143 billion from 2026-07-29 — a sixth consecutive session of decline totalling NT$88.954 billion over six days. The starting point can be checked against this desk's published card ANK-2026-07-28-003: Taiwan's benchmark closed at 41,603.36 on 2026-07-28, down 2,030.83 points from the previous session (CNA#1742221, CNA#1757605).

Do Taiwan's maintenance-ratio figures prove there were no liquidations?

No. The Financial Supervisory Commission put the whole-account maintenance-margin ratio at 165.50% as of 2026-07-28 and 161.63% as of 2026-07-29, both above the 130% call threshold set by brokerages. But Securities and Futures Bureau deputy director-general Huang Hou-ming stated plainly that the ratio takes the entirety of a trader's margin positions as its statistical unit rather than computing per individual stock, and that because brokerages file only aggregate data with the exchange, without granular detail, the commission cannot establish how many investors have already fallen below 130%. Over the same period the commission also reported that, as of end-June 2026, the margin-loan balance for listed and OTC shares was about NT$818.7 billion and unrestricted-purpose lending about NT$474.2 billion, together about NT$1.2929 trillion, up NT$47.0 billion from end-May 2026 (CNA#1739563, CNA#1757592).

How far forward has the target card's Taiwan data been updated?

To June 2026. Per CNA, citing exchange statistics: as of end-June 2026 the cumulative total of Taiwan share-trading accounts reached 14,487,981, up about 155,000 from end-May 2026 and a fresh record (up 720,156 over the first half of 2026); 6,931,956 accounts traded on the centralized market in June 2026, up 443,819 from May 2026 and a second consecutive monthly record; and regular-savings investment in June 2026 came to about NT$37.525 billion, up from NT$32.579 billion in May 2026 — the latter being the direct successor to the target card's "NT$32.5794 billion in May 2026." Within the same statistics, individuals accounted for 51.5% of turnover in June 2026, down from 53.33% in May 2026 — record participation and a falling share coexisting (CNA#1279889, CNA#1770725).

What is the official basis for Japan's NISA account count?

The survey background section of the release by I-Bridge Inc. ("Freeasy") dated 2026-07-30 cites the Financial Services Agency: as of end-December 2025 there were 28.26 million NISA accounts, a little over 20% of the total population, with cumulative purchases of JPY 71 trillion (the release notes this is reproduced from Nikkei MJ of February 18, 2026). This agrees in direction and magnitude with the target card's F-009, which records the Rakuten Securities release of 2026-07-01 citing "more than 28 million NISA accounts at end-2025, equivalent to 23% of the total population." Note that this is a Financial Services Agency figure carried by a company release quoting a media report; this desk did not verify it against the agency's own document, and two layers of relay sit in between (PRTIMES#1749426).

Does this week prove retail investors are exiting the equity market?

No, and the evidence points instead to greater selectivity. Per Cnyes on 2026-07-30, citing Vanda Research: US retail investors set a record on the Tuesday of that week for the largest single-day net selling of individual stocks since the pandemic crash (total net selling of USD 213 million that day, with four names including Micron accounting for 88%), while rotating into diversified ETFs; Vanda's conclusion is that retail investors are "not exiting the equity market but becoming more selective." Average daily retail turnover in individual stocks in 2026 to date is USD 15.7 billion, a record. Over the same period Taiwan's June 2026 trading accounts and regular-savings amounts both set records, and Japan's NISA accounts stood at 28.26 million (end-December 2025, Financial Services Agency basis via relay). One further coexisting extreme: per CNA on 2026-07-31, citing Bloomberg, foreign investors bought a net KRW 7.8 trillion of KOSPI shares that day while retail investors sold a net KRW 8 trillion, both unprecedented records — the largest single-day index gain on record and the largest single-day retail net selling on record occurred on the same day (CNYES#1750521, CNA#1770725, PRTIMES#1749426, CNA#1773851). ---

🔮 待驗證假設（P-Units）

The path of single-stock leveraged ETF assets after South Korea's new rules take effect (base margin of KRW 30 million posted entirely in cash from 2026-07-31, suspension of new product approvals, a contemplated cap on individual portfolio share) — Citi's Apabhai forecasts a high likelihood the market-wide total falls below USD 8 billion before end-2026, pending verification by subsequent data
Status: open
Whether Taiwan publishes a market-wide maintenance-margin ratio and whether the thresholds of its disposition regime are adjusted — the exchange and the Taipei Exchange are assessing and had submitted no proposal as of 2026-07-30 (CNA#1757592); moreover the Financial Supervisory Commission currently cannot establish the number of investors whose whole-account ratio has fallen below 130%
Status: open
Taiwan's July 2026 trading accounts, day-trading share and regular-savings amount — the exchange's June statistics are the latest available (disclosed 2026-07-31), and whether the late-July turbulence changes these three series awaits subsequent monthly statistics
Status: open
Official updates to Japan's NISA account count and cumulative purchases beyond end-December 2025 (28.26 million accounts, JPY 71 trillion) — this desk did not verify against the Financial Services Agency's own document, and the current two-layer relayed record should be replaced by original official statistics when available
Status: open

Verification Record

AI-structured, registry-verified, editorially sampled — Kirishima Rei (AI Editorial Desk)

⚠️ This article was AI-structured (not authored by an individual human reporter).

Cross-verified by multiple AI models.

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