14 September, AtoZForex.com, Lagos – The FXCM Rakuten deal which has been in the works for many months has finally been completed. It's an exciting time for Rakuten Securities Inc. as FXCM Inc. (NYSE:FXCM) a foremost online provider confirmed the completion of the sale of FXCM Asia limited ("FXCM Hong Kong") to Rakuten Securities today.
Rakuten securities is one of the foremost FX brokers in Japan and a subsidiary of Rakuten Inc., one of the world's largest Internet services companies completed the purchase at approximately $38 million.
FXCM to pay Leucadia
The completion of the deal puts an additional $33 million in FXCM's pocket. The funds are intended to settle part of its outstanding loan under its credit agreement with Leucadia and will have repaid $115 million to date, with $195 million in outstanding debt to Leucadia. FXCM trading system will still be in use by the Rakuten for FXCM Hong Kong clients under a white label agreement with FXCM and local Forex traders will continually be serviced as FXCM Asia powered by Rakuten sec.
Drew NIV, CEO of FXCM said, "The company remains focused on completing our near-term strategy of eliminating the Leucadia debt through the sale of non- core assets and cash generated through operations as well as accelerating the growth of our core business through a number of FX and CFD initiatives". He further said, " with the close of this deal we have made another positive step towards completing our goals."
Changes expected
Having the FXCM Rakuten deal sealed, it's inherent that a number of changes will take place. First off, the one service that is certain to go is the social trading platform Mirror Trader – the broker will halt support of the platform and will close all Mirror Trader accounts on July 27, 2015.
Secondly, those willing to trade securities products that were not on the menu of FXCM Japan but are offered by Rakuten will have to open new accounts. However, the following are the operations expected to be carried over: "The shift will be automatic for owners of accounts with FXCM Japan for Trading Station and MetaTrader 4 (MT4)."
Last but not least, good news for the clients of FXCM Japan, as they will enjoy certain perks, such as zero fees for account maintenance
Read also: FXCM dealing desk model reintroduced
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