Sep. 7, 2009 (Business Wire) -- MF Global Ltd. (NYSE: MF), a leading intermediary offering customized solutions in global cash, derivatives and related markets, today announced the launch of an independent, equities research, sales and execution team that will provide its global clients with insight and analysis on Japan’s most liquid stocks.
In addition, the company has changed the name of its Tokyo-based business from FXA Securities Ltd. to MF Global FXA Securities Ltd.
“Building on the success of our European research led model, the expansion into Japanese equities furthers our pan-Asia growth strategy and enhances our client offering with access to regional markets,” said Bernard W. Dan, CEO MF Global Ltd. “Our clients throughout Asia as well as in North America and Europe can now participate in the world’s second largest economy armed with the independent intelligence that our analysts and sales team provide.”
Mr. Dan continued, “With this launch, we also felt it was important that the name of our business in Tokyo should reflect the diversity of our offering and benefit from the strength of MF Global’s status as a leading multi-asset class broker serving a broad range of clients around the world.”
The research driven brokerage team, led by Managing Director Graham Elliott, will offer independent, timely and thematic analysis on leading Japanese companies. The team’s output will serve as a high-quality alternative to general maintenance research which has increasingly become the standard offering for Japanese equities.
“Over the last two years, the number of research providers in Japan has declined markedly through mergers or withdrawals from the market. As a result, investors tell us that it has become increasingly difficult to find quality research that they can rely on”, said Mr. Elliott. “So we are seizing what we see as a prime opportunity to provide valuable analysis that is independent and unconflicted due to our agency-only equities model.”
Mr. Elliott, former CEO of Jefferies Japan, joined MF Global in April and has built an initial team of seven equity research analysts and a sales and execution team of 11 with extensive experience in Japanese markets. With plans to expand to 10-15 analysts, the team is supported by a full sales trading desk in Tokyo and experienced research sales professionals in London and New York to serve global investors in the Japanese equities market.
ABOUT MF GLOBAL
MF Global Ltd. (NYSE: MF), is a leading intermediary offering customized solutions in global cash, derivatives and related markets. It provides execution and clearing services for exchange-traded and over-the-counter derivative products as well as for non-derivative foreign exchange products and securities in the cash market. MF Global is uniquely diversified across products, trading markets, customers and regions. Its worldwide client base includes financial institutions, industrial groups, hedge funds and other asset managers as well as professional traders and private/retail clients. MF Global operates in 14 countries on more than 70 exchanges, providing access to some of the largest financial markets in the world and is the leader by volume on many of these markets. For more information, please visit www.mfglobal.com.
