ThinkMarkets, an Australia-based multi-asset online broker, is expanding its presence in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region with the establishment of a new entity in New Zealand. The new entity will be regulated by the New Zealand Financial Markets Authority (FMA), the broker announced on Wednesday.

ThinkMarkets noted with the launch of its New Zealand entity, its contract for difference services for forex, stocks, commodities, indices and cryptocurrency trading will be available to New Zealand residents. Additionally, they will be able to trade over 4,000 financial instruments on ThinkTrader, the brokerage’s trading platform.

ThinkMarkets Expands Brokerage Business

ThinkMarkets’ launch in New Zealand comes over a year after the brokerage, which is headquartered in London, launched its forex trading services in Japan. A year earlier, the online trading services provider acquired Japan Affiliate, a Japanese forex trading firm. In addition, it opened an office in Tokyo.

“After our highly successful launch in Japan in 2022, ThinkMarkets remains committed to expanding its services to multiple regulated markets worldwide with our award-winning trading platform, ThinkTrader,” said Nauman Anees, the CEO and Co-Founder of ThinkMarkets.

On top of that, the brokerage firm's latest expansion moves follow a $30 million funding the brokerage received in early 2022 to expand its business across multiple verticals in several jurisdictions globally. The funding came from Mars Growth, a joint venture fund of Liquidity Group and MUFG.

ThinkMarkets in Africa

Outside of APAC, ThinkMarkets earlier established its presence in Africa. In 2019, the brokerage firm acquired a regulatory license in South Africa and announced plans to open an office in Johannesburg.

Two years later, the brokerage expanded its services for retail traders in South Africa with the addition of South African shares and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to its offerings. The company at the time said it will offer its clients in the country trading opportunities on more than 700 ETFs and company stocks listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

Meanwhile, in recent months, ThinkMarkets has made efforts to improve its platform. In February, the broker upgraded ThinkTrader Web, its in-house trading platform. In the same month, the online trading firm introduced a new security feature to help its users prevent or detect fraudulent calls now “common among online traders.”

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