[단독] It lends to large securities companies such as Samsung, Korea Investment, and Mirae Asset, and to individuals for short selling.

Enter 2021.01.27 10:22 | Revision 2021.01.27 10:53

Individual investors, short selling possible stocks likely to increase

Mirae Asset Daewoo (006800), Samsung Securities (016360), Korea Investment & Securities and other large securities companies decided to lend stocks for short selling to individual investors.

Short selling is a trading method in which stocks are borrowed and sold, then the stocks are bought back and paid off. If the stock price falls when you pay off the stock, you can make a profit. The government banned short selling from March last year to March 15, as it has the effect of increasing volatility and encouraging stock price declines during periods of falling stock prices.

Until now, there has been criticism that it is a system that is advantageous only to foreigners and institutional investors because individual investors have no place to borrow stock even if they try to sell short.

Until now, the places that lent stocks for short selling to individual investors Kiwoom Securities (039490), Shinhan Investment, SK Securities (001510), Daishin Securities (003540), Yuanta Securities (003470)Small and medium-sized securities companies NH Investment & Securities (005940)It was only. Of these, five other than Yuanta Securities are lending stocks for short sale to individuals using the system of Korea Securities Finance.

A high-ranking official in the financial investment industry said on the 27th, “Last week, major securities companies including large companies agreed to participate in the loan service for individuals through securities financing.” There are about 10 securities companies that have decided to provide private loan services, including large companies such as Mirae Asset Daewoo, Samsung Securities, and Korea Investment & Securities. The Financial Services Commission, Korea Securities Finance and Financial Investment Association are coordinating the final securities companies that will participate in private loan services.

Securities Finance lends funds from securities finance to securities companies that have decided to participate in private lending services, and securities companies provide these funds to investors through credit loans (a loan from securities companies for stock investment). Securities finance uses stocks purchased through credit loans as collateral instead of lending funds for credit loans and provides these stocks to investors for short sale.

Until now, large brokerage firms have provided credit loans only with their own funds rather than giving them credit loans with securities finance funds. In the case of credit loans given with own funds, stocks purchased by investors were held as collateral by securities companies, but they were not provided as stocks for short sale. This is because the interest rate for loans is low at 2.5% per annum, and management costs are high, so little profit remains.

However, in the future, if large securities companies provide credit loans with securities finance funds and use them to secure short-selling stocks, the number of stocks that individual investors can short-sell will increase.

Securities industry officials said, “In order to reduce the criticism that short selling needs to be restarted and that it is a slanted playground only for institutional investors and foreigners, it is necessary to create a short selling infrastructure for individual investors. I lost” he explained.