ThinkMarkets has acquired the Japanese FX firm, Japan Affiliate, in a move that allows the multi-regulated brokerage firm to offer its service in the Asian country. This announcement coincides with the opening of ThinkMarkets’ Tokyo office.
Although ThinkMarkets have regulations in many other jurisdictions, this is not sufficient as no such passports are recognized, and FX brokers need to obtain JFSA authorization to do business in Japan.
Based in Tokyo and licensed by the Financial Services Agency (JFSA), Japan Affiliate is holding a Type 1 Financial Instruments Business Operator license. The deal allows the newly-acquired firm to offer clients ThinkMarkets’ proprietary Trading Platform , ThinkTrader, launching soon in Japan.
"Tokyo is one of the world's largest foreign exchange trading hubs, so the expansion of our brokerage services offering with the addition of FX in Japan is an exciting milestone for us as we continue our global expansion," said Nauman Anees, CEO of ThinkMarkets.
Additionally, the ThinkTrader platform will allow Japanese investors to trade FX and metals.
However, Japanese markets are known as cutthroat in terms of competition and spreads, which inherently places a disadvantage on retail brokers. In addition, the maximum leverage for retail traders is limited to 1:25 and 1:100 for institutional clients. There are so many restrictions on using certain trading strategies like hedging, arbitrage, scalping and EAs.
Back in 2017, the firm acquired mobile app provider, Trade Interceptor. Since then, the company has been refocusing its objective with a mobile-centric approach, with ThinkMarkets seeing a solid uptick in the number of transactions placed on mobile devices.
ThinkMarkets is a multi-licensed online Forex brokerage firm, authorized and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
Furthermore, the firm has expanded its global footprint through its licensed South African firm. The delivery of a trading environment to the thriving Japanese market goes hand in hand with the company’s overall strategy to expand in the Asia Pacific region, one of the largest markets for ThinkMarkets.
