Foreign media, citing people familiar with the matter, report Dharmacapital
moved all staff to Singapore earlier this month, leaving no HFT firms
headquartered in Japan. Sources said Japan's relatively higher tax burden was a
partial driver. Dharmacapital Pte CEO Akiyoshi Shiotani said: "The main reason
for the move was to gain better access to global markets. Japan remains our most
important market." The Japan Financial Services Agency's July registry shows 53
HFT firms trading in Japanese markets; Dharmacapital was the only firm based in
Tokyo. Market participants say Tokyo's struggle to consolidate as an
international financial center and factors such as relatively high income-tax
rates and language barriers have pushed some financial firms to other Asian
hubs.
