< The 2016 Trading Technology 40

Rakuten Securities, a unit within the financial services arm of e-commerce and digital-content giant Rakuten, acquired Asian foreign exchange businesses from U.S.-based online trading firm Forex Capital Markets (FXCM) last year for $100 million. The move underscores the global growth ambitions of Rakuten, which has 100 million people registered for online shopping and a financial strategy that includes banking, brokerage, credit cards, insurance and even a $100 million fund for strategic investments in financial technology start-ups. “Since 2013, Rakuten Securities has been significantly expanding its equity trading and revenue due to the upward market trend brought about by Abenomics,” says Masayuki Hosaka, 61, an executive vice president at Rakuten and executive director of its finance business. The securities company is “aggressively expanding and diversifying its revenue sources.” Its purchase of FXCM Japan Securities Co. supported its strategy to become “the top FX service provider in Japan.” Adding FXCM Asia and FXCM Hong Kong represented “the first step in overseas business expansion,” and there will be “further business development,” says Hosaka, who joined Rakuten in 2006 as president of what is now Rakuten Card Co. after more than 25 years with ORIX Credit Corp. Elsewhere in his part of Tokyo-based Rakuten, online lending service Rakuten Super Business Loan Express has been introduced for merchants operating on Japanese e-commerce portal Rakuten Ichiba. Rakuten Smartpay, which handles card transactions through smart devices, has become Japan’s No. 1 e-payments vendor. “To expand our Rakuten ecosystem model overseas, we launched Rakuten Card in Taiwan, seeking synergies with the Taiwan Rakuten Ichiba e-commerce business,” Hosaka adds.

 
2016 Trading Technology 40

1. Raymond Tierney III Bloomberg 2. Richard Prager BlackRock Methanol Gains Traction as an Alternative Energy Source Sponsored by CME Group May 5, 2025 3. Chris Isaacson BATS Global Markets 4. Jonathan Ross KCG Holdings 5. Bradley Peterson Nasdaq

6. Brad Levy Markit 7. Dan Keegan Citi 8. Ronald DePoalo Fidelity Institutional 9. Raj Mahajan Goldman Sachs Group 10. Ari Studnitzer CME Group

11. Mayur Kapani Intercontinental Exchange 12. Gerald O’Connell CBOE Holdings 13. Nicholas Themelis MarketAxess Holdings 14. Gil Mandelzis EBS BrokerTec (ICAP) 15. Bill Chow and Richard Leung Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing

16. Rob Park IEX Group 17. Philip Weisberg Thomson Reuters 18. John Mackay (Mack) Gill MillenniumIT 19. Robert Cornish International Securities Exchange 20. Paul Hamill Citadel Securities

21. Eric Noll Convergex 22. Tyler Moeller and Joshua Walsky Broadway Technology 23. Rishi Nangalia REDI Holdings 24. Veronica Augustsson Cinnober Financial Technology 25. Alasdair Haynes Aquis Exchange

26. Manoj Narang Mana Partners 27. Gaurav Suri Arcesium 28. Robert Sloan S3 Partners 29. Anton Katz and Stephen Mock AQR Capital Mgmt 30. Stu Taylor Algomi

31. D. Keith Ross Jr. PDQ Enterprises 32. Donal Byrne Corvil 33. Alfred Eskandar Portware 34. R. Cromwell Coulson OTC Markets Group 35. Masayuki Hosaka Rakuten

36. Peter Maragos and David Karat Dash Financial 37. Amar Kuchinad Electronifie 38. Jennifer Nayar SR Labs 39. Dave Snowdon Metamako 40. Dan Raju Tradier