As Monex’s FX trading volumes continue to dwindle, regional bank Shizuoka Bank buys Orix Corp’s 20% stake in Monex for ¥24.4B ($237M).
At a time when its FX trading volumes continue to fall (see chart below), mid-size Japan retail FX broker Monex Group (TYO:8698) is seeing a change at the top. Japanese regional bank Shizuoka Group is getting into the retail FX space by buying Orix Corporation’s 19.63% stake in Monex for $237 million, giving Monex an overall valuation of $1.2 billion. Orix is a diversified company, and will now concentrate its efforts in real estate and car share services.
Monex is somewhat unique in the Japan FX scene, as by virtue of its ownership of TradeStation and IBFX in the US it also receives a significant portion of its business outside Japan. It also has a decent retail FX presence in China.
For more on Shizuoka Bank’s purchase of its stake in Monex click here (pdf, in English).
For more on the global Forex industry see the LeapRate-Dow Jones Forex Industry Report.