Best Japan Financial Services Agency (FSA) Regulated Brokers 2025
We’ve personally tested and ranked the top brokers regulated by the Financial Services Agency (FSA) in Japan, ensuring high standards of trust and reliability.
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1Kraken is a major cryptocurrency exchange that offers a unique trading terminal and over 220 cryptocurrencies for trading. It provides up to 1:5 leverage for spot crypto trading with consistent rollover fees, and up to 1:50 leverage on futures. Additionally, it offers crypto staking services and features an interactive NFT marketplace.
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Trust Platform Assets Fees Accounts Research Education Mobile Support 4.9 Founded in 2006, AvaTrade is a top forex and CFD broker trusted by over 400,000 traders. Regulated in 9 regions, it handles more than 2 million trades monthly. AvaTrade offers platforms like MT4, MT5, and WebTrader, with over 1,250 instruments. Traders of all levels can explore CFDs, AvaOptions, and AvaFutures for short-term trading. AvaTrade provides excellent education and 24/5 multilingual customer support for a complete trading experience. -
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Trust Platform Assets Fees Accounts Research Education Mobile Support 4.8 IC Markets is a renowned forex and CFD broker recognized for its high-quality pricing, extensive range of trading tools, and superior trading technology. Established in 2007 in Australia, it operates under the oversight of ASIC, CySEC, and FSA. It has drawn in over 180,000 traders from across 200 countries. -
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Trust Platform Assets Fees Accounts Research Education Mobile Support 4.6 Established in 2008, Exness is a respected broker known for offering over 40 account currencies, a wide choice of CFD instruments, and an intuitive web platform with features like currency converters and trading calculators. -
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Trust Platform Assets Fees Accounts Research Education Mobile Support 4.5 Fusion Markets, an online broker since 2017, is regulated by the ASIC, VFSC and FSA. Known for its low-cost forex and CFD trading, it offers a variety of accounts and copy trading options for all types of traders. New traders can register and begin trading in three easy steps.
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Safety Comparison
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Mobile Trading Comparison
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Comparison for Beginners
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Comparison for Advanced Traders
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Accounts Comparison
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Detailed Rating Comparison
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Fee and Cost Comparison
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Broker Popularity
See how popular the Best Japan Financial Services Agency (FSA) Regulated Brokers 2025 are in terms of number of clients.
Broker | Popularity |
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Kraken |
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Exness |
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AvaTrade |
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IC Markets |
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Fusion Markets |
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Why Trade With Kraken?
Kraken is suitable for traders seeking a variety of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, and a strong history of security.
Pros
- Low minimum deposit of $10
- Wide range of over 220 established cryptocurrencies available for trading.
- A highly safe and secure service, with no recorded breaches in the ten years since it was established.
Cons
- Doesn't support many new alternative coins.
- Does not accept fiat deposits
- Low leverage on spot trading
Why Trade With AvaTrade?
AvaTrade provides traders with essential tools: an intuitive WebTrader, strong AvaProtect risk management, a quick 5-minute sign-up, and reliable support for fast-paced markets.
Pros
- Years later, AvaTrade is still among the few brokers with a custom risk management tool, AvaProtect, which insures losses up to $1M for a fee and is simple to use on the platform.
- AvaTrade's support team did well in tests, responding within 3 minutes and providing local support in major regions like the UK, Europe, and the Middle East.
- AvaTrade enhances its products with AvaFutures, offering an alternative to trade over 35 markets with low trading margins.
Cons
- AvaTrade’s WebTrader has improved, but it needs more customization as widgets like market watch and watchlists can't be hidden, moved, or resized.
- The AvaSocial app is satisfactory but could be better. Its design, usability, and navigation between strategy providers and account management need improvement to compete with top platforms like eToro.
- While the deposit process is smooth, AvaTrade doesn't support crypto payments, unlike TopFX, which caters to crypto-focused traders.
Why Trade With IC Markets?
IC Markets provides excellent prices, quick execution, and smooth deposits. The utilization of sophisticated charting platforms such as TradingView and the Raw Trader Plus account makes it a preferred choice for intermediate to advanced traders.
Pros
- You can trade more than 2,250 CFDs in various markets, such as forex, commodities, indices, stocks, bonds, and cryptocurrencies. This range enables varied trading strategies.
- IC Markets provides reliable 24/5 support, especially for account and funding matters, based on direct experience.
- IC Markets provides some of the smallest spreads in the industry, offering 0.0-pip spreads on major currency pairs. This makes trading particularly cost-efficient for traders.
Cons
- IC Markets have a selection of metals and cryptos for trading through CFDs, but their range is not as wide as brokers such as eToro. This may limit options for traders who are interested in these asset types.
- The range and quality of educational materials, such as tutorials and webinars, require improvement. This lag falls behind competitors like CMC Markets and reduces its suitability for novice traders.
- Interest is not earned on unused funds, a feature commonly available at other platforms such as Interactive Brokers.
Why Trade With Exness?
Exness is an excellent choice for active forex traders aiming to reduce costs after lowering spreads, enhancing execution speeds, and offering trading on over 100 currency pairs with more than 40 account currencies.
Pros
- Wide variety of account types for all experience levels, including Cent, Pro, and the new Raw Spread, ideal for traders.
- Exness was the first brokerage to reach monthly trading volumes of $1 trillion and $2 trillion, demonstrating its credibility.
- Execution speeds now average under 25ms, providing ideal conditions for short-term traders.
Cons
- Retail trading services are not available in some areas, such as the US and UK, which limits access compared to leading brokers like Interactive Brokers.
- Exness has increased its variety of CFDs and introduced a copy trading feature, but it still lacks real assets like ETFs, cryptocurrencies, or bonds.
- MetaTrader 4 and 5 are supported, but TradingView and cTrader are not available yet, despite increasing demand from traders and their integration with other platforms like Pepperstone.
Why Trade With Fusion Markets?
Fusion Markets is a top choice for forex traders seeking competitive prices with near zero spreads, minimal commissions, and new TradingView integration. The company, based and regulated in Australia by the ASIC, is especially suitable for Australian traders.
Pros
- The variety and quality of charting platforms and social trading features are superb. TradingView, MT4, MT5, and cTrader cater to diverse trading preferences.
- Fusion Markets stands out for its competitive pricing, offering narrow spreads and lower-than-average commissions attractive to active traders.
- Fusion Markets provides superior support with quick and friendly responses during evaluations. There is no need to deal with annoying automated chatbots.
Cons
- Fusion Market falls short in providing educational resources compared to competitors like eToro and IG. It offers few guides and live video tutorials for inexperienced traders.
- The lack of a beginner-friendly trading platform or app is a significant disadvantage compared to AvaTrade.
- The broker provides a wide selection of currency pairs, surpassing most competitors. However, their alternative investment options are just average and offer no stock CFDs outside of the US.
Filters
Top Brokers Regulated by the Japanese Financial Services Agency (JFSA)
This guide introduces you to the best brokers that are overseen by the Japanese Financial Services Agency, ensuring protection for investors and a stable financial system in Japan. We’ll also explore the history, duties, and safeguards provided by this agency for everyday traders.
What Is The Japanese Financial Services Agency?
The Japanese Financial Services Agency, established in 2000, is the main regulatory body for financial activities in Japan. It is located in Tokyo and is led by a Commissioner appointed by the Minister in charge of Financial Services.
The JFSA shapes rules for everything related to securities trading, affecting both traders and online brokers. Any firm offering trading services to individual investors needs to have a JFSA license, which you can verify using their online register. Additionally, the JFSA is part of the international Financial Action Task Force, focusing on preventing money laundering worldwide.
Duties and Powers
To grasp what the JFSA does, it’s helpful to understand how it is organized. The agency is divided into several sections:
- Strategy Development and Management – creates policies
- Policy and Markets – develops rules for the financial market and system, like those for managing liquidity risk
- Supervision – oversees local cryptocurrency activities
- Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission Executive – enforces rules and conducts investigations
- Certified Public Accountants and Auditing Oversight Board Executive – responsible for auditing
The JFSA can demand reports from businesses to help ensure transparency and enforce regulations. It also collaborates with the Japanese government to shape laws affecting local financial systems. An example of upcoming legislation includes rules requiring large companies to disclose their climate-related risks, aligning with international standards.
Investors Protection Fund
The JFSA ensures traders’ money is protected. Brokers need to keep client funds separate from their own. If a company goes bankrupt, the JFSA’s Investors Protection Fund can compensate investors up to 10 million yen each.
Enforcement
The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission, part of the JFSA, investigates financial market misbehavior and conducts business inspections. For serious rule violations, the JFSA can impose fines, shut down companies, or even pursue criminal action. Weekly updates on penalties are available from the JFSA.
Actions
Cryptocurrency
After a major hack in 2018, which exposed weaknesses in the cryptocurrency industry, the JFSA enhanced regulations for crypto exchanges to protect customer assets. Future rules might limit stablecoin issuers to banks and wire transfer services, aiming to safeguard the financial marketplace but possibly affecting crypto availability.
Forex
For currency trading, the JFSA caps leverage at 1:25, meaning traders can’t exceed borrowing 25 times their initial investment. This helps prevent large losses but also limits high-risk trading strategies. Although brokers must adhere to this cap, they can set even stricter limits.
The JFSA also targets misleading advertising and frequently checks that forex brokers communicate truthfully with their customers.
Other Markets & Trading Types
The Japanese Financial Services Agency recommends streamlining the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which may affect the number of companies available in certain markets. They have tightened rules on short-selling, a practice used to sell stocks not currently owned, to prevent market abuses.
Final Thoughts on JFSA Brokers
The JFSA oversees Japan’s financial industry and its rules impact trading significantly, including those for cryptocurrency exchanges and forex trading. For those starting out, consulting our list of top JFSA brokers is a great first step.
FAQs
What Is The JFSA?
The JFSA is Japan’s main organization for overseeing financial services, creating regulations for financial companies, including brokers. They enforce these standards and provide an online tool to check for authorized entities.
Is The Japanese FSA Tough On Cryptocurrency?
Yes, the JFSA has stringent rules for cryptocurrencies to protect traders, especially after exchange thefts in 2018. These measures are similar to those of other stringent regulators worldwide.
What Is The JFSA Investors Protection Fund?
This fund is a safety net for investors if a licensed company goes bankrupt, covering up to 10 million yen per individual investor.
What Enforcement Powers Does The Japan FSA Have?
The JFSA can issue fines, shut down businesses, and even imprison individuals for serious violations, similar to other leading regulators like the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority.
What Is The Maximum Forex Leverage That The JFSA Allows?
The JFSA enforces a maximum leverage of 1:25 for forex trading, which is stricter than many international regulators, leading some brokers to register with more lenient avenues.