South Korea's Financial Services Commission approved revisions on Aug. 12 that will take effect on Aug. 19, requiring first-time retail investors in domestic and overseas single-stock leveraged products to complete free mock trading through the Korea Exchange before they can trade live, while also tightening ETF and ETN price-deviation controls. Investors must complete at least five trading days of simulated trading, with at least one hour per day and five hours in total, using virtual funds at same-day market prices on the KRX website. The service, previously limited to futures and options trading and short selling, is being extended as part of a broader effort to curb risk in volatile exchange-traded products. Securities companies' closing-price deviation management thresholds for all ETFs and ETNs will be lowered to 2% from 3% for domestic products and to 5% from 6% for overseas products, with negative deviations counted on an absolute basis, and the KRX plans to curb new liquidity provision by liquidity providers that intentionally, through gross negligence or repeatedly breach their obligations. Authorities are also shortening the process for designating stocks as requiring investor caution and preparing additional measures, including a possible cap of 20% of total investment funds per investor. The changes follow a July 31 increase in the basic cash margin requirement for single-stock leveraged products to 30 million won from 10 million won and come alongside a separate proposal to raise minimum trading units.