Sony Bank said Thursday it will acquire Kaiyo Securities Co. based in Okinawa to launch Internet-based securities brokerage services in the first half of fiscal 2007.
The Sony Corp. unit will be the first Japanese online bank to have a securities company.
As soon as authorized by the Financial Services Agency, Sony Bank said, it will purchase new shares issued by Kaiyo Securities and make the securities house a subsidiary.
Sony Bank has handled foreign currency deposits and investment trusts as well as ordinary deposits to attract individuals through the Internet and hopes to expand its customer base further by adding a brokerage to its services.
Kaiyo Securities was founded for individual investors in August 2004 in Nago, a special zone for financial deregulation in Okinawa.