Competition among Korean securities firms for short-term financial product funding is intensifying as special-issue products offer annual rates approaching 5%. Korea Investment & Securities recently offered individual customers 4.9% for a 365-day product and 4.7% for 181 days, while Shinhan Securities launched a six-month product at a pre-tax annual rate of 4.5% that sold out within five hours. Samsung Securities, which recently received approval for short-term financial business, is expected to introduce its first product in a special-issue format within the next week. These unsecured products are issued by securities firms designated as mega investment banks (IB), rely on the issuer's credit and are not covered by depositor protection. The number of issuers has risen from four in the first half of last year to eight this year, and outstanding balances reached 55.9291 trillion Korean won at the end of June, up 26% from a year earlier. Rising market interest rates and competition from new entrants have lifted yields across maturities, giving securities firms additional short-term funding for activities including corporate finance, acquisition finance and project financing (PF).