The promotional event encourages investment through newly introduced domestic market return accounts, promising substantial rewards for participation.
Category: Business
Meritz Securities has announced a promotional event to incentivize investors to open Domestic Market Return Accounts (RIA), offering a total of 100 million won worth of gold bars, 10 million won worth of gold coins, and 50 million won cash. The event, revealed on March 23, 2026, aims to encourage investment by requiring participants to open a 'Super RIA' account and deposit over 50 million won into U.S. stocks before selling them by the end of May.
To boost their chances of winning, participants can sell their stocks within seven business days of depositing, which increases their winning probability threefold. For example, if an investor deposits 20 million won worth of U.S. stocks on April 10 and 30 million won on April 16, they must sell at least 50 million won worth of stocks by April 27 to meet the threefold condition.
The event will reward one grand prize winner with a gold bar valued at 20 million won, two second-place winners with gold bars worth 10 million won each, four third-place winners with gold bars valued at 5 million won each, 40 fourth-place winners with gold bars worth 1 million won each, and 100 fifth-place winners with gold coins valued at 100,000 won each.
Additional promotions are available for customers who hold a 'Super RIA' account and open a 'Super 365' account for the first time. Those who deposit more than 1 million won of domestic stocks or cash into their 'Super 365' account and maintain that balance until the end of June will share a total of 50 million won cash. Notably, winners can participate concurrently for both the gold and cash events.
Both 'Super RIA' and 'Super 365' account holders will benefit from zero commission on domestic and U.S. stock trading, along with currency exchange fees until the end of 2026. This structure ensures that no commission fees are incurred when converting U.S. stocks to Korean won and trading domestic stocks.
The RIA is a special account that provides temporary tax benefits on capital gains when selling overseas stocks and investing long-term into domestic stocks and stock funds. Individuals can receive a capital gains tax reduction on the sale of up to 50 million won worth of overseas stocks.
Meanwhile, the launch of the RIA has garnered attention across the financial investment sector, with over 20 domestic securities firms rolling out the accounts on the same day. This initiative aims to stabilize the fluctuating exchange rate and improve liquidity within the domestic stock market.
The RIA allows investors to sell overseas stocks and use the proceeds to invest domestically for over a year, thereby qualifying for substantial tax incentives. The capital gains tax reduction rates are set at 100% for sales made by the end of May, 80% for sales by the end of July, and 50% for sales made by the end of the year.
There are measures to reduce the deduction amount if investors repurchase overseas stocks within the same year, aimed at preventing what is termed 'cherry-picking' of tax benefits. The RIA was initially delayed due to the failure to pass the 'three laws for exchange rate stability' through the National Assembly, but a bipartisan agreement to retroactively apply tax benefits allowed for its timely launch.
On March 22, the Democratic Party and the government convened a high-level meeting to support the launch of the RIA and personal investment forward exchange products, deciding to expedite related legislative processes.
Market analysts view the introduction of the RIA account positively, predicting it will induce short-term demand for dollar sales and alleviate upward pressure on the exchange rate. The influx of funds from selling overseas stocks, which will be converted into Korean won and directed into the domestic stock market, is expected to have a beneficial impact on the foreign exchange market.
Experts like Yeom Dong-chan from Korea Investment & Securities noted that the RIA could support a stronger Korean won, citing similar legislation enacted by Indonesia back in 2016, which saw approximately 12% of overseas assets return to the domestic market. He explained that even though the Indonesian rupiah has shown long-term weakness, it experienced strength during that period.
Yeom highlighted that amounts under 50 million won returning by the end of May would be exempt from capital gains tax, raising expectations for the repatriation of overseas assets. Kang Jin-hyuk from Shinhan Investment Corporation added that the market is closely monitoring the effects of the RIA, with individual investor return rates likely influenced by the performance outlook of both domestic and overseas markets.
According to Lim Jeong-eun from KB Securities, the RIA is expected to facilitate the return of funds that had previously flowed abroad back into the domestic market, thereby supplying liquidity to the stock market and reducing volatility. He emphasized that the one-year holding requirement for domestic stocks is likely to encourage a shift from short-term gains to long-term investments, which will serve to stabilize the domestic stock market.
Lim also stated that the dollar selling pressure resulting from the conversion of overseas assets into Korean won could act positively on the recently unstable Korean won to U.S. dollar exchange rate.
With the RIA program now operational, investors and analysts alike are eager to see how it will influence the dynamics of the South Korean financial market, particularly concerning foreign exchange stability and stock market liquidity.