As criticism grew that so-called "debt investing," in which people borrow through unsecured loans to invest, is increasing, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) said the total volume of unsecured loans across all financial sectors from January to October this year fell by a net 2 trillion won, indicating more stable management than the past average increase of 9.1 trillion won.
On the 17th, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) distributed "Trends in unsecured loans and margin loans and the status of risk management," and stated accordingly that although unsecured loans in October turned to an increase from the previous month, unsecured loans tend to rise in October–November due to seasonal factors. It said unsecured loans usually decline through March due to bonus payments, and show seasonality in which the increase widens during the August vacation season and in October–November.
According to materials released by the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the cumulative increase in unsecured loans from January to October was in the range of 15 trillion to 22 trillion won from 2017 to 2021. However, it shifted to a net decrease of 13.05 trillion won in 2022, 12.5 trillion won in 2023, and 3.8 trillion won last year.
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) said, "In the case of so-called debt investing, our consistent and firm position is that strict risk management must accompany it within a range the investor can personally tolerate." Regarding the recent increase in the absolute size of margin loans due to a revitalized stock market, it said, "We are closely managing the risks of margin loans through firm-by-firm quantity caps, requirements on deposit ratios and collateral ratios, and differentiated limits by customer and security."