Interactive Brokers (Nasdaq: IBKR) has expanded its offerings in Japan by adding contracts for differences (CFDs) instruments. Announced yesterday, Japanese traders now have access to US CFDs and global stocks.

CFDs on Interactive Brokers Japan

The US-headquartered broker operates in Japan through a local entity. In addition to CFDs, the platform already offers global stocks, options, and futures to traders in East Asian countries.

CFDs are over-the-counter derivatives that enable leveraged trading, allowing traders to assume long or short positions. These sophisticated products are favoured by active traders.

“This addition [of CFDs] allows [Japanese clients] to actively trade US stocks and ETFs with leverage, providing a dynamic tool for enhancing their investment strategies and maximizing their trading potential,” Dan Kerrigan, the Chief Executive Officer of Interactive Brokers Securities Japan, said.

“With this launch, we reaffirm our commitment to Japan and to helping our clients discover investment opportunities locally and worldwide with powerful trading technology, competitive pricing, and extensive global product offerings.”

A Competitive Commission

The brokerage further detailed that the commission for US share CFDs will be a minimum of $0.0055 per share, while for trading Japanese share CFDs, traders will have to pay at least 0.033 percent of the trade value. For Singapore shares CFDs, the minimum commission is 0.121 percent of the trade value. For CFDs of shares listed in Hong Kong, Europe, and Australia, the minimum commission has been set at 0.055 percent.

Interestingly, Interactive Brokers highlighted that ‘lower rates are available for all share CFDs with higher trading volumes.’

Meanwhile, the Connecticut-headquartered broker generated $1.2 billion in revenue in the first quarter of the ongoing year, an increase of 13 percent over the same quarter of the previous year. The commission revenue of the platform also experienced an uplift of 6 percent to $379 million. This saw a boost of 25 percent in customer accounts, which now number 2.75 million.