Banks raise costs on leveraged SK Hynix, Samsung stock bets

Global banks are making it more expensive and harder for hedge funds to place leveraged bullish bets on SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics and, in some cases, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing after a sharp rally in chip shares. Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, BNP Paribas and UBS have raised financing costs on swap trades, while some firms also cut trade sizes or limited which clients could put on new positions. Morgan Stanley has turned away requests for new swap trades in the two Korean stocks, the report said. The tighter terms follow gains of more than 200% for SK Hynix and more than 175% for Samsung this year, even as both shares fell sharply on June 10.