I have to say this caught me off guard as this is quite a bold move by Alpari. It is also quite a strange announcement as only three months ago Alpari itself announced its intention to withdraw from the Japanese market - I guess an opportunity came by which they couldn't resist. Judging by the looks of CMS Japan's website this used to be the US CMS Forex's Japanese brokerage as they offer CMS Forex's charts on its homepage, this is simply intriguing.
Japanese market, which by many is considered to be the largest in the world, is also a very tough market to enter and even tougher market to conduct business at. Japanese authorities are putting forex under major scrutiny lately reducing leverage from 1:50 last year to 1:25 this coming August. Japanese FSA is also very strict when it comes to sanctioning brokers - there's the Gaitame example when it was required to shut down its business for a month on charges of not controlling its forex rates thus losing around 30% of its clients. I criticized Saxo almost two years ago for doing the same and IG Markets has suffered huge losses from its Japanese subsidiary but it seems this is not going to stand in Alpari's way.
Another issue Alpari will need to tackle is the relative unpopularity of MT4 in Japan. Alpari is one of the biggest MT4 experts and brokerages in the world while Japanese market is not very fond of this platform yet. Therefore Alpari will need to play by local rules (and platforms) at first, which may cause certain complications it.
Alpari (UK) Limited (“Alpari (UK)”), one of the fastest-growing providers of foreign exchange (“Forex”, “FX”), contracts for difference (“CFDs”) and precious metals online trading services, today announces that the company has acquired CMS Japan K.K.; renamed Alpari (Japan). The new office will be an independent entity providing trading services in Forex, CFDs and precious metals.
Andrey Vedikhin, CEO of Alpari (UK), comments, “We are very excited about having a local Alpari team in Japan. Forex is much more widely understood there than in most other places around the world, with people from all different backgrounds trading currencies on a regular basis. It’s a competitive arena for brokers but as one of the leading MetaTrader specialists and with our successful global business model we have something unique to offer to our clients in Japan. The Alpari (Japan) team is confident that it will soon become the leading MetaTrader broker in the country.”
Combined, Alpari (UK) and the new Alpari team in Japan will hit the ground running, as each has extensive experience in the Japanese Forex market. Until December 2010, Alpari (UK) provided a full suite of trading services to Japanese residents. As one of the leading MetaTrader brokers the Alpari companies are ideally positioned to capitalise on the enormous interest Japanese traders have in this highly advanced Trading Platform .
Mushegh Tovmasyan, Global Head of Sales at Alpari (UK), adds, “Alpari (Japan) is another milestone in the rapid global expansion of the group of Alpari companies in Asia and globally.
About Alpari (UK)
Alpari (UK) Limited is an award-winning Forex, CFD and precious metals broker headquartered in the heart of the City of London and with offices in Germany, China and India. Alpari (UK) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the United Kingdom. FSA Register number 448002. Company No. 05284142. Alpari (UK) is an independent entity within the group of Alpari companies.
About the Alpari companies
With a history dating back to 1998, the Alpari companies are among the world’s fastest growing providers of online foreign exchange (“FOREX”, “FX”) trading services, with more than 50 offices in cities in over 20 countries, including London, New York, Shanghai, Dubai, Moscow, Mumbai and Frankfurt. Combined, the companies look after over 440,000 customer accounts*, generating monthly trading volumes in excess of $160 billion**, and employ over 550 people* worldwide.
In addition to Alpari (UK), the Alpari companies are:
Alpari (Deutschland) GmbH, based in Frankfurt, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alpari (UK). Alpari (Deutschland) provides investment services to retail and institutional investors in the German-speaking region as a tied agent of Falcon Asset Management GmbH, Königsallee 50, 40212 Düsseldorf, BaFin registration number 117767, according to § 2 Abs. 10 KWG.
Alpari Forex (India) Pvt. Ltd. is a subsidiary of Alpari (UK). The company was formed under the Indian Companies Act 1956 and incorporated in 2008. Providing currency trading services to Indian institutional and retail customers, Alpari (India) is a member of the NSE (National Stock Exchange of India), MCX-SX (MCX Stock Exchange) and USE (United Stock Exchange).
Alpari (US), LLC was established in 2006. The company is based on Wall Street, in the financial district of New York City, where it is dually registered by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) and a Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer and has been a member of the National Futures Association (NFA) since 2007, Member ID: 0379678.
Alpari ME DMCC is licensed by the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, Dubai. The company is a member of the Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange.
Alpari (Russia), established in 1998, is a leading Forex, CFD and precious metals broker based in Moscow and regulated by the Financial Regulation Agency in Russia.
Alpari Financial Services is based in Cyprus, CySEC licence number 129/10.
Forex and CFDs are leveraged products. They may not be suitable for you as they carry a high degree of risk to your capital and you can lose more than your initial investment. You should ensure you understand all of the risks.
