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Breaking news
MF Global buys BrokerOne
 September 30, 2007
CS journalists
The world’s largest derivatives broker MF Global has announced the acquisition of Australia’s biggest futures broker BrokerOne, marking a period of consolidation in the hotly competitive derivatives space that includes futures, options and contracts for difference (CFDs).
Most investors in Australia would be familiar with the brand of Man Financial, the broking division of the Man Group, which changed its name to MF Global when it listed on the New York Stock Exchange in July this year. Since listing, MF Global has been on an acquisition path, acquiring three businesses since its float with its sights on further opportunities targeting the fertile Asia Pacific region. The latest acquisition will no doubt boost MF Global’s clout in the region. “The acquisition of BrokerOne complements our existing business and continues our expansion in the key Asia Pacific market,” says Tony Fay, managing director of MF Global Australia.
With origins dating back to 1783 when James Man established a sugar broking business in London - operating as a partnership for over two hundred years dealing sugar, coffee and cocoa - today, MF Global commands a global financial markets presence a prerequisite for any firm intending to compete in the fiercely competitive global marketplace. Today the international broker employs around 1600 staff in 11 countries around the world.
BrokerOne, which was majority owned by Chicago-based TransMarket Group, boasted the leading market share in futures trading on the Sydney Futures Exchange (SFE). BrokerOne’s 4,500 customers collectively represented the biggest single liquidity pool on the SFE. Its clients traded CFDs via CMC Market’s white-labelled trading platform.
CompareShares subscribers will probably remember our analysis of the CFD market in Singapore back in June, “CFD fever hits Singapore.” A gradual relaxing of regulatory barriers that had previously prevented derivatives to be traded in many Asian countries had encouraged a number of leading derivatives players to set up in Singapore, the springboard for an Asian offensive. “Certainly we think Japan’s going to be a huge market,” stated Peter Oxlade senior vice president and head of CFDs & Securities for MF Global. “There’s an appetite for leverage in Japan and there is, from what we can see from our early investigations, a pretty strong appetite for leverage in Taiwan and Korea. So once we get the green light from the regulators, we’ll be in all those markets.”
It's hardly surprising that MF Global’s aggressive acquisition strategy since listing has brought into its net FXA Securities in Japan, a provider of online foreign exchange products to retail investors. The intention is to roll out FXA’s foreign exchange platform throughout the Asia Pacific region and Europe.
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