KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 30): Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd’s online trading for Bursa Malaysia stocks has been disrupted for more than a week following precautionary measures taken in response to a cybersecurity attempt, with no confirmed date for services to resume.

Clients remain unable to place online buy and sell orders through its website and iSPEED.my app, although the broker’s customer service team is accepting manual sell orders.

“We have had to temporarily limit transactions on our system, as a result of a precautionary and preventative measure implemented in response to the detection of a cybersecurity attempt,” Rakuten Trade chief executive officer Kazumasa Mise said in a written response to The Edge. “Based on our assessments to date, we have found no evidence of data loss.”

The disruption affects only its Malaysian stock trading service. Trading in US and Hong Kong stocks remains available, alongside deposits, withdrawals, account access and other account services, according to the digital brokerage’s notes to its client. 

Mise also ruled out a connection to cybersecurity incidents reported in Japan. “We would like to take this opportunity to clarify that this is unrelated to the separate cyber issues reported in Japan,” he said. Japanese companies have recently faced cyberattacks that disrupted online services and compromised customer information. Among them, GMO Internet Group said it would compensate customers for losses arising from unauthorised access following an attack on its foreign exchange trading service. 

In its latest available client notice dated Oct 28, Rakuten Trade said it was in the final stages of completing checks to restore online order placement for Bursa Malaysia stocks.

The broker said it needed to ensure the service was stable before resuming online trading and would notify clients once buy and sell orders become available again through its website and app. An earlier notice said the restoration process involved verification, testing and security validation, but did not provide a resumption date at that time. 

Mise said Rakuten Trade’s team was working to ensure its systems were secure before restoring services, and apologised for the inconvenience. “Protecting our systems and safeguarding our customers’ information remain our top priority,” he said.

Rakuten Trade began operations in May 2017 as a joint venture between Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd (KL:KENANGA) and Japan’s Rakuten Securities Inc. It provides online access to Malaysian, US and Hong Kong equities through its website and mobile app. 

The online trading platform is licensed by the Securities Commission Malaysia.