TOKYO: Longbridge Group, a Singapore-based online brokerage startup, plans to enter Japan to tap into the country’s retail investing boom.
The firm is seeking to set up a business in Tokyo this year if it gets regulatory approval, said Sho Kiryu, its Japan country manager.
Longbridge plans to offer mobile-based brokerage services for the United States, Hong Kong and Singapore stocks as well as US equity options in Japan, Kiryu added.
“You can really feel the government-led shift from savings to investment is taking off,” said Kiryu, who joined Longbridge last year from Saxo Bank A/S.
The firm wants to hire around 15 people in the first half of this year, and compete against the likes of SBI Holdings Inc and other local online brokers, he added.
Longbridge Group was set up in 2019 and has secured funding of more than US$150mil from financial groups and investment firms, according to its website.
It’s seeking to ramp up its global market expansion with the funding, and has multiple offices overseas.
The firm’s expansion underscores how Japanese individual investors’ move to load up on stocks is drawing attention from outside the country. — Bloomberg
