Retail brokerage group iFOREX announced that it was going public at the end of last week.
As a part of that, the group has had to publish a document detailing some of its operations and finances.
There were a few interesting tidbits of information in the document, which is available on the broker’s new investor relations portal.
However, one of the most striking parts of the document is a revenue breakdown of the company’s business lines.
iFOREX currently operates using an offshore entity in the British Virgin Islands and another entity regulated in Cyprus for its European Union clients.
The overwhelming majority of group level revenues are derived from the BVI license. According to the broker, approximately 95% of its total sales come via the BVI – a sign of how increasingly shut off the European market is.
35% of iFOREX revenues come from Japan
Perhaps the most interesting part of the report was some information on the broker’s activities in Asia.
East Asian countries are the largest contributor to the group’s overall revenues, making up 39% of the company’s $50.1m in total sales.
Of that 39%, the overwhelming majority comes from Japan. The company said that 35% of its overall revenues were derived from clients in the world’s third-largest economy.
iFOREX does not have a license in the country, meaning this is all reverse solicitation activity.
Japan was an early adopter of leverage restrictions on CFDs. Although the local market is still huge, it has created a huge offshore market for the products.
iFOREX is actually likely to be one of the smaller players in that segment. However, the contribution of the market to group level revenues is an indication of what other players in the market are likely doing. It would not be surprising if other brands generate a similar proportion of their revenues from the market.
