Established in 1951, Okato Shoji is a futures commission merchant with headquarters in Tokyo and branch offices and subsidiaries throughout Japan and overseas. The agreement is with Okato Shoji's Tokyo office and means that the company can use Patsystems' data centre in Tokyo – a complete trading installation, including exchange gateways, which is hosted on behalf of customers.

The Tokyo installation was established earlier in the year, with Okachi & Co. Ltd and Mitsubishi Corporation futures the first customers to sign up for the hosted service. Both companies are clearing members of the Tokyo Commodity Exchange.

As a full member of the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, Okato Shoji will use the Patsystems facilities management solution to provide its customers with access to TOCOM's energy products, which have been very active in 2004. Any customer with a connection can use the facility, and in return they receive a comprehensive trading infrastructure and a fully managed service.

Commenting on the agreement with Okato Shoji, Kazuaki Takabatake, Patsystems' regional director for Asia Pacific, says: "We did a roadshow last month with the support of TOCOM and TIFFE. This enabled us to explain the full capability of the facilities management solution. Since then we have had several enquiries and are hoping to reach similar facilities management agreements in the near future. I feel that members are beginning to realise the significant advantage of being an early adopter of the ISV model."