Source: Gain Capital
GAIN Capital Holdings, Inc., a global provider of online trading services, today announced it has been selected as a primary clearing partner for Korea Investment & Securities Co., Ltd, (KIS) one of Korea's leading securities companies and a subsidiary of Korea Investment Holdings, Korea's largest non-bank financial holding company. GAIN is now providing KIS with real-time pricing, execution, settlement and custody services in support of its recently launched margin FX business.
"KIS selected GAIN because of their robust technology infrastructure, their ability to meet our aggressive time to market goals and, most importantly, their professional reputation," said Jin Tae Kim, Managing Director. "We are confident that our clients will be extremely pleased with the competitive spreads and the quality of trade executions provided by GAIN. We look forward to working closely with GAIN as we continue to grow our FX business," Mr. Kim concluded.
Margin FX trading among retail investors has surged in Korea over the past few years. According to the Korean Financial Service Commission (FSC), South Korean investors' foreign exchange margin trading activity increased 594% from 2007 to 2008, reaching 454 trillion won in 2008 compared to 65 trillion in 2007. In 2009, an estimated 361 trillion won was traded in the first five months of 2009 alone, with retail investors accounting for 99% of all transactions.
"We are delighted to partner with KIS as they are a leader in retail brokerage with a reputation for excellent customer service," commented Tom Levine, Senior Vice President of Institutional Sales at GAIN Capital. "We're fully committed to helping all of our partners in Korea take advantage of the tremendous opportunity in retail FX by providing the technology, resources, and financial stability they seek," continued Mr. Levine.
GAIN Capital opened an office in Seoul in July of last year.