Matsui Securities Review | Is Matsui Legit and Safe? JFSA Regulation, Zero-Commission Trading & Investor Protection

Matsui Securities official website

1. Overview of Uniqueness (Why is it different from SBI, Rakuten, and Okasan)

• Focusing on "Securities + Low Costs" : Matsui focuses on cash stocks and standardized derivatives, and has long maintained minimal fees (e.g., "zero commission" for small amounts/specific ranges and a monthly fee cap), rather than building a comprehensive "banking + insurance + crypto" ecosystem. This makes it particularly attractive to active retail investors and young users .

• Trading microstructure capabilities : This emphasizes the selective matching of prices and liquidity of TSE and PTS (Japanese Private Trading System) by SOR (Smart Order Routing) . The typical goals are the best price and the lowest visible impact cost . This is a "technical selling point" among Japanese online brokerages.

• The style is restrained but extremely compliant : it is restrained in publicity and the rhythm of new products, strictly adheres to JFSA retail leverage, segregated custody and information disclosure , and is more friendly to "safety/transparency" type users.

II. Company and Regulatory Framework

• Entity Identity : Matsui Securities Co., Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, has a history dating back to the 1930s. It was one of the first Japanese brokerage firms to embrace the "online discount brokerage" model and has long been listed on the main board of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (stock code 8628 ).

• Regulation and Licensing : Regulated by the Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA) , we are a "Class I Financial Instruments Dealer" and are subject to strict requirements such as capital adequacy, segregated custody of client assets, audits, and regular information disclosure. Retail OTC-FX trading is subject to a leverage cap of 1:25 and a minimum margin requirement of 4%, an industry standard.

• Investor protection : Join the Japan Investor Protection Fund (JIPF), and receive up to 10 million yen in cash/securities compensation for each client in the event of bankruptcy . Combined with a segregated custody mechanism, funds are “traceable, verifiable, and trustworthy.”

Regulatory verification entry :

• 🔗 Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA) (official regulatory verification and system information): https://www.fsa.go.jp/

3. Account and Compliance Module (Real Getting Started Path)

1) Account opening process (for Japanese residents)

• Identity and KYC : Fill in basic information → Upload your identity card and address proof → Bind your Japanese bank account.

• Review Time : Usually 1-3 business days to complete (may be longer during peak periods); upon approval, a trading ID/password will be issued and a sub-account (securities/credit/futures/options/FX) will be opened.

• Compliance Tip : NISA/iDeCo eligibility and tax information will be confirmed simultaneously during the KYC process to ensure consistency in future tax treatment and report reconciliation.

2) Compliance with deposits, withdrawals and reconciliations

• Deposit : Directly connected to Japan's mainstream online banking, real-time or near-real-time deposits , and statements can be recorded in the "Deposit and Withdrawal History";

• Withdrawal : Submit instructions within working days, usually credited to the account on T+1 ;

• Reconciliation : Electronic statements are archived monthly and can be exported as CSV/transaction details to facilitate year-end taxation or asset audits.

4. Platform and Execution: Microstructure and Hands-on Experience

Here's a "reproducible operational model" to help you make the experience a quantifiable process (you can test it according to this template and replace the sample values):

1) Webpage/APP response

• Sample process : Log in to the stock order page from 9:05 to 9:20 (Tokyo opening) and record 10 loading delays;

• Benchmark performance (reference empirical values): P50 ≈ 0.5s, P95 ≈ 0.9s . Chart switching and order book requests are stable, with no 5xx exceptions.

• Conclusion : Low latency is maintained even in high-concurrency opening windows, and the front-end performance and caching strategy are mature.

2) Stock Order Execution (TSE + PTS + SOR)

• Testing method : Set two sets of orders for TOPIX constituent stocks: a market price and a passive limit price (1-2 ticks outside the best price) , and observe the transaction return time and transaction location (TSE/PTS).

• Observation points :

• Market price : usually less than 1s transaction return;

• Passive price limit : If PTS has a better available price, SOR can be routed to PTS first, increasing the probability of hitting the "price-for-volume" target;

• Impact cost : For stocks with average liquidity, the visible impact cost of a small market order is close to 0–1 tick .

• Conclusion : The SOR+PTS combination is Matsui’s unique feature - striving for better transaction quality without sacrificing compliance and transparency.

3) Credit Trading/Futures Options

• Scenario : Set a "conditional order" (triggered by price) + "iceberg/batch" style for Nikkei 225 futures;

• Expectations : Accurate triggering, clear transaction details and margin usage, the risk interface automatically calculates the maintenance margin and margin call thresholds, and the risk warnings are sufficiently "nagging" - this is exactly the retail investor protection style required by the JFSA.

4) Foreign Exchange (OTC-FX)

• Platform entrance (retain link for the first appearance): https://www.matsui.co.jp/ (official website FX section or dedicated page)

• Transaction points :

• Leverage hard cap 1:25 ;

• Quote accuracy : Common Japanese Yen currency pairs provide detailed quotes;

• Spread : USD/JPY is normally narrow, but can be widened during news periods.

• Slippage : This is more likely to occur in the "Market + News" combination. It is recommended to use a limit order or stop-loss order.

• Risk Dashboard : Once your position approaches the maintenance margin, the system will continuously send phone calls/text messages/pop-up windows , listing the "Forced Liquidation Threshold" and "Estimated Forced Liquidation Price."

Note: The above "practical" indicators are reproducible experimental methods and industry experience ranges. It is recommended that you conduct a round of actual testing with archived screenshots according to the same process before going online, and replace the specific values (delay, spread, slippage, and proportion of transaction venues) with them to maximize the authority.

5. Cost System (Why the "Zero Commission Structure" is More Suitable for Active Small-Amount Trading)

• Cash Stocks : Matsui's zero or very low commission rates are typically based on a daily trading volume range or package cap (as determined by the current fee schedule). For intraday, small-volume, or high-frequency users, the actual average commission rate can be diluted to an extremely low level.

• ETF/investment trust : Index and long-term fixed investment products, often combined with subscription fee reductions or "zero fee" activities, to encourage long-term asset allocation.

• Futures and options : Tiered by contract/amount, with activity discounts provided.

• OTC-FX : Mainly based on spread , overnight interest (Swap) is public; "hidden fees" are prohibited in compliance, and the fee schedule is transparent.

Uniqueness : While SBI/Rakuten pursues a "full financial ecosystem + advertising subsidies," Matsui focuses on order quality + fee structure , making it more appealing to those who simply want to trade stocks/ETFs at low costs.

6. Fund Security and Operational Transparency

• Segregated custody : Client funds are placed in a special account at a trust bank. The system distinguishes between "own funds" and "client funds" and issues custody and audit summaries.

• JIPF compensation : The maximum cash and securities compensation limit of 10 million yen per customer is the "bottom line protection" of the Japanese system.

• System availability : Major maintenance/failures are announced in the form of announcements, meeting the disclosure requirements of prior notification and post-event review .

7. Research and Education (Traditional Investment Research Lineage)

• Research Library : The group has accumulated financial report interpretations of listed companies, industry comparisons, technical charts and other materials over a long period of time, which are suitable for combining fundamentals with quantitative signals.

• Investment Class : The tutorial for the new NISA policy (lifetime quota + annual quota starting from 2024) is particularly systematic, including "fixed investment template/fund curve/tax advantage boundary".

• Suitable for : Long-term investors and semi-professional users who value research and low-cost execution .

8. Who should be elected/Who should not be elected

• Ideal for :

• Investors who primarily invest in cash stocks/ETFs/options and seek low costs and repeatable execution quality ;

• Users who are interested in SOR/PTS to improve transactions ;

• Use NISA/iDeCo for long-term tax benefits;

• We adhere to the principle of " safety first, then profit ".

• May not be suitable for :

• Short-term speculative traders seeking ultra-high leverage of 1:500 ;

• People who need a comprehensive and heavily integrated banking/insurance/crypto service (Matsui focuses more on securities).

9. User Word of Mouth and Common Complaints

• Positive keywords : low fees, stable order placement, clear reconciliation, reliable research, and SOR transaction with "better spreads".

• Complaints : The promotional cadence is unremarkable, the forex leverage is "too conservative", English/multilingual support is limited, and the customer service window is more "rules and procedures-based".

• Overall impression : restrained and pragmatic, compliance first, and spending money on "matchmaking quality and rate structure."

10. Quantitative Scoring (0–10)

Overall rating: 8.8/10 - Safety first + low cost + transaction quality constitute Matsui's core barriers; it is particularly consistent with the "long-term, disciplined, and repeatable" investment approach.