Rakuten Securities expands to Malaysia, FXCM Asia rebrand set to go ahead this month

After expanding to Hong Kong via  acquisition of FXCM Asia, Rakuten Securities Inc, part of the Japanese electronic commerce and internet company based in Tokyo Rakuten, has announced that has signed a joint-venture contract with Kenanga Investment Bank, part of K & N Kenanga Holdings Berhad based in Malaysia.

Kenanga declared assets in a total of an equivalent to $1.7 billion by the end of 2014, $196 million in revenue and $30.3 million in net income. It is the third largest among general securities companies and the first among retail securities companies in Malaysia, offering corporate finance, debt and equity capital markets, corporate banking, Islamic finance, equity broking, equity derivatives and structured products.

Rakuten Securities Inc, ranked second and fourth in Japan in terms of retail trading volume for equities and Forex, respectively. The firm acquired FXCM Japan and FXCM Asia after the Swiss peg crisis, for $62 million and $36 million. The company continues to use the FXCM trading system for FXCM Asia clients under a white label agreement with FXCM, but the Hong Kong branch will be rebranded to Rakuten Securities HK on April 21.

Yuji Kusunoki, President at Rakuten Securities said:

“We are delighted to be signing a joint venture agreement in partnership with Kenanga Investment Bank, one of Malaysia’s leading investment banks. This is a great opportunity for us to expand our 100% purely online brokerage business into Malaysia.”

Rakuten Securities and Kenanga signed a joint-venture contract that includes the Rakuten’s support and technologies to allow Malaysian customers’ trading various financial instruments, including Forex, futures, equities, and mutual funds in its platform, becoming the first online retail securities business in Malaysia. Kenanga will continue to attract new customer base.