Financial and Business News

IG Rolls Out Vanilla Options to Japanese Retail Traders With Stocks, ETFs and CFDs to Follow

Monday, 09/02/2026 | 10:11 GMT by Tareq Sikder
  • New vanilla options offer daily, weekly, or monthly expiries with no trading fees.
  • The new options launch covers FX, stock indexes, commodities, and volatility indexes.
IG group logo (shutterstock)

IG Securities, the Japanese subsidiary of electronic trading firm IG Group, has introduced vanilla options to its options trading.

The launch comes amid leadership changes, following the exit of Tomoharu Furuichi as Representative Director and CEO of IG Japan, a position he held for nearly seven years. He said the company “has become the largest foreign-branded retail broker in Japan” and added that the time had come for a new leader.

IG Securities Plans Expansion of Options

The new product allows customers to trade major instruments, including foreign exchange , stock indexes, commodities, and volatility indexes. Traders can choose daily, weekly, or monthly deadlines. The platform does not charge trading fees and supports both long calls and puts, as well as short positions.

A company spokesperson said, "We believe that by offering vanilla options trading, customers will be able to utilize a wider variety of trading strategies."

IG Securities is preparing to expand vanilla options to individual stocks and exchange-traded products, such as CFDs and ETFs. The launch date for these products will be announced separately.

Japan Subsidiary Ends Cryptocurrency ETF CFDs

Separately, in 2025, IG Securities stopped offering cryptocurrency ETF CFDs following updated guidance from Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA). From December 1, 2025, the firm no longer accepted new orders for these products, and pending orders were canceled.

The FSA had clarified that ETFs containing certain crypto assets are linked to the price of the underlying cryptocurrency, meaning derivatives based on such ETFs fall under Japan’s crypto-related derivative regulations. Since the creation and sale of crypto asset ETFs were prohibited in Japan, offering derivatives based on overseas crypto ETFs was deemed non-compliant.

Existing positions could be settled, but all had to be closed by January 31, 2026. The suspension specifically affected iShares Bitcoin Trust and iShares Ethereum Trust ETF CFDs, while other products offered by IG Japan continued unchanged.

IG Securities, the Japanese subsidiary of electronic trading firm IG Group, has introduced vanilla options to its options trading.

The launch comes amid leadership changes, following the exit of Tomoharu Furuichi as Representative Director and CEO of IG Japan, a position he held for nearly seven years. He said the company “has become the largest foreign-branded retail broker in Japan” and added that the time had come for a new leader.

IG Securities Plans Expansion of Options

The new product allows customers to trade major instruments, including foreign exchange , stock indexes, commodities, and volatility indexes. Traders can choose daily, weekly, or monthly deadlines. The platform does not charge trading fees and supports both long calls and puts, as well as short positions.

A company spokesperson said, "We believe that by offering vanilla options trading, customers will be able to utilize a wider variety of trading strategies."

IG Securities is preparing to expand vanilla options to individual stocks and exchange-traded products, such as CFDs and ETFs. The launch date for these products will be announced separately.

Japan Subsidiary Ends Cryptocurrency ETF CFDs

Separately, in 2025, IG Securities stopped offering cryptocurrency ETF CFDs following updated guidance from Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA). From December 1, 2025, the firm no longer accepted new orders for these products, and pending orders were canceled.

The FSA had clarified that ETFs containing certain crypto assets are linked to the price of the underlying cryptocurrency, meaning derivatives based on such ETFs fall under Japan’s crypto-related derivative regulations. Since the creation and sale of crypto asset ETFs were prohibited in Japan, offering derivatives based on overseas crypto ETFs was deemed non-compliant.

Existing positions could be settled, but all had to be closed by January 31, 2026. The suspension specifically affected iShares Bitcoin Trust and iShares Ethereum Trust ETF CFDs, while other products offered by IG Japan continued unchanged.

Topics
retail
retail brokers
iggroup
Japan
retail FX
About the Author: Tareq Sikder
Tareq Sikder
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A Forex technical analyst and writer who has been engaged in financial writing for 12 years.

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