South Korea ELS issuance takes a dive

The sales of derivative-linked securities (DLS) in South Korea has plunged by 32.6% to KRW42.1 trillion (US$36 billion) as a result of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic across stock markets in major economies during the first half of the year, compared with the same period of 2019. The income for securities companies issuing and operating DLS products turned to a deficit of KRW1 trillion from a surplus of KRW0.4 trillion a year ago due to ‘difficulties in dealing with hedge assets,&rsqu