Mrs. Watanabe Eyeing Seoul Housewives

The Web site of Mayumi Torii, a housewife-trader from Japan, claims that non-professional traders can earn 1 million yen ($10,000) a month from foreign exchange trading. From last month, Torii has been making frequent speeches to housewives in Seoul as Japanese firms are tapping the currency trading market in Korea.

By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter

Japanese brokerage firms are eyeing Korean housewives as they want to replicate the foreign-exchange (FX) trading boom here, known as the ``Mrs. Watanabe'' syndrome.

Korean securities companies, too, are paying more attention to the relatively underdeveloped market of 24-hour foreign exchange trading, either by themselves or jointly with Japanese partners.

The first envoy sent to Korea to spread the word on FX trading was Mayumi Torii, a celebrity housewife-trader in Japan. As the author of two books on FX trading and the leader of a private investors' group called the “FX Beauties' Club,” Torii was invited to give a series of lectures in Seoul, in March and April.

Hanmag Securities, a Korean brokerage firm, hopes the celebrity marketing will influence Korean housewives and encourage them to have a can-do attitude. The event was to promote the launching of a new FX system, which is available in partnership with Himawari Securities, a Japanese firm specialized in such trading.

``FX trading is highly developed in Japan, so we thought someone famous in the Japanese FX market could help our clientele in Korea,'' a Hanmag salesman said, adding that it was Himawari who recommended Torii to them. Torii is already quite famous in and outside of Japan _ she was interviewed by the New York Times in 2007, when FX trading by Japanese households was becoming a sensational phenomenon in the global financial market. Since then, she has been known as one of the most successful Mrs. Watanabes.

The foreign exchange market lets people trade between different currencies such as the dollar, yen, euro and pound. It is by far the largest and most vibrant financial market, with an estimated daily trading value of $2 to $4 trillion worldwide. The FX markets are often open 24 hours, and firms called Forex Dealer Member (FDM) act as both the dealer and broker between sellers and buyers. Himawari is one of the most active FDMs in Korea.

Most Korean securities companies work with Japanese, American or European FDMs. The FX market, however, has not been so popular in Korea so far while most retail investors prefer more conservative assets such as stocks, bonds and bank deposits. But financial regulators started to ease the rules on FX trading from this year with the slogan of making Korea the ``financial hub'' of East Asia. From this week, they allowed securities firms to use multiple FDMs, so customers could pick a broker with the best rate when they buy or sell currencies.

In line with the government initiative, many local securities and futures firms are holding public conferences and organizing free lectures for their clients. They think that FX trading could be a lucrative business in Korea, like it has been in Japan, because the low bank interest rate is making people look elsewhere to invest their money.

Many firms, such as Woori Futures, NH Futures and Hanmag, have launched a new version of FX home-trading systems for non-professional investors. But the most noticeable of all is a Japanese company called Click Securities.

Click Securities, a four-year-old securities and futures company based in Tokyo, submitted an application to float its stock on the Kosdaq stock market of Korea, three weeks ago. The reason for the cross-border floatation is rather unique ― to promote its brand and its FX trading service to Korean investors.

“Click is to launch an Asia-wide FX service soon. Because their brand awareness is low outside of Japan, they want to raise their reputation here by floating on the Kosdaq market,” an official at Korea Exchange said.

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