Sales of equity-linked securities (ELS) in South Korea have fallen back to KRW15.2 trillion in the first quarter of 2021 from a yearly high of KRW26 trillion at the end of 2020.

The number of ELS issued in Q1 21 increased 27.4% to 4,240 quarter-on-quarter (QoQ), or up 3.9% year-on-year (YoY) despite decreasing sales at KRW15.2 trillion. Meanwhile, sales of equity-linked bonds (ELB) doubled to KRW3.6 trillion QoQ but issuance almost halved at 387, according to data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD).  Together they represented a 31.9% decrease in sales volume and a 15.9% increase in issuance QoQ. Public and private offerings accounted for 86.9% and 13.1% of