FXCM Inc., a major U.S. provider of online foreign exchange trading services announced Wednesday that it has agreed to sell its Japanese unit, FXCM Japan Securities Co., to Rakuten Securities Inc. for $62 million.
The transaction is expected to close on Wednesday. It comes after FXCM clients took a blow from the surge in trading volatility when the Swiss franc skyrocketed against the euro after Swiss authorities suddenly removed the cap on the currency band in January.
The company said it is forgiving the bulk of client losses and has been selling its assets as part of restructuring.
Rakuten Securities, a subsidiary of Rakuten Inc., runs its own foreign-exchange trading services and will take over the customers and trading systems of FXCM Japan, which had around 250,000 accounts at the end of February.