South Korea Financial Supervisory Service reports 2025 profit jump for securities firms and signals NCR and liquidity rule improvements

South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service published preliminary 2025 earnings and balance-sheet statistics for securities and futures trading companies, showing a sharp rise in securities companies’ profitability. Aggregate net income for 61 securities companies reached KRW9.6455 trillion, up 38.9% year on year, with return on equity increasing to 10.0%. Commission income at securities companies rose 28.3% to KRW16.6159 trillion, led by brokerage commissions of KRW8.6021 trillion, while proprietary trading income increased slightly to KRW12.7456 trillion amid large shifts between products, including higher equities- and funds-related income and a larger derivatives-related loss. Aggregate assets grew to KRW943.9 trillion and liabilities to KRW841.5 trillion; shareholders’ equity rose to KRW102.4 trillion. The average net capital ratio increased to 915.1% and the average leverage ratio to 693.7%. For the three futures trading companies, net income rose 10.8% to KRW88.56 billion and the net capital ratio increased to 1,567.1%. Against a backdrop of heightened uncertainty, the FSS indicated it will closely monitor securities companies’ financial stability and liquidity, encourage management of insolvent assets, and pursue enhancements to loss-absorbing and risk management capacity through improvements to the net capital ratio calculation method and liquidity regulations.