The Japanese Financial Services Agency has ordered Futu Securities' subsidiary, moomoo, to temporarily suspend part of its business, including new account openings, for 3 months.

June 19 – According to a report from Nikkei News, Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) announced Wednesday it has issued a partial business suspension order to moomoo Securities, a foreign-owned online brokerage firm operating in Japan. The order requires the firm to stop soliciting and accepting new account openings between June 19 and September 18, a three-month period. The FSA also issued a business improvement order, mandating that moomoo strengthen its internal management systems, clarify the responsibilities of senior executives, and develop a formal business improvement plan to prevent recurring issues. The FSA cited multiple violations by moomoo, including improper practices such as providing false explanations to customers and marketing products ineligible for Japan’s Nippon Individual Savings Account (NISA) program as if they qualified. Japan’s Financial Instruments and Exchange Act prohibits soliciting clients or entering contracts based on false information. Additionally, the FSA noted the firm has long failed to review and report suspicious transactions, has inadequate cybersecurity measures, and faces multiple gaps in its internal control systems. moomoo Securities is the Japanese subsidiary of Futu Holdings, a Hong Kong-based online brokerage giant listed on the U.S. NASDAQ exchange. It operates through a mobile app that has been downloaded more than 2 million times in Japan, and has grown its customer base largely by promoting low commission fees for U.S. stock trades.