YJFX, one of the biggest retail Forex brokers in Japan, has halted servicing demo accounts for MetaTrader 4 (MT4), as a series of YJFX traders have experienced technical irregularities on the popular platform.
The first technical maladies emerged early on October 16, 2014, causing disruption to owners of demo accounts for MT4. The broker attributed the issues to server overload and temporarily halted the service. However, as the difficulties with the server traffic continued, the broker has suspended the provision and support of MT4 demo accounts indefinitely.
As a result of the extreme measures taken, YJFX will not accept applications for MT4 demo account opening. Moreover, traders who already have demo accounts for the ubiquitous platform with the broker will be unable to log in and trade.
YJFX notes that the operation of live accounts for MT4 will continue normally in the face of the issues preventing the normal work of the demo service.
YJFX is a subsidiary of multinational internet giant Yahoo! Japan and also for being amid the handful of originally Japanese FX brokers who defy the tradition by offering their customers Metatrader 4 (MT4). The group has shrunk as Japan’s FX giant MONEX dropped MT4 and instead decided to offer application-based Tradable. Amid the few companies that still support MT4 in Japan is Togaku Securities (formerly Easthill Japan Co.)
Meanwhile Yahoo! Japan is expanding its FX operations: in July, LeapRate informed of the establishment of GulliverFX, a UK Forex broker set up by the Japanese online expert. GulliverFX also offers trading on MT4, including a desktop and a web version of the platform. The company recently stepped up its efforts to improve the trading conditions and starting from November 1, 2014, clients of the broker can enjoy a maximum leverage of 1:500, compared with a previous level of 1:100.
The official message by YJFX on the MT4 demo service suspension can be found here.