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Contract reading

What Iwai Cosmo legally published, but does not want you to read

Every clause below is published by Iwai Cosmo itself, on its own website, today. The finding is not that the text exists. It is the distance between what a client is shown and what a client agreed to. Read from its own documents on .

Contracting entity: 岩井コスモ証券株式会社

hidden feeforced liquidationsole discretionforum waiverprofit voidingdata transferdeemed acceptancedefault disposaldormancyembedded cost

Iwai Cosmo is a registered Japanese broker with a complete public document set. The costs that bite sit inside prices rather than in commission lines: 2.5% to 3.0% on foreign shares bought through a branch, local charges on overseas dealing that no page states, and a branch rate charged when the firm closes your margin position for you. On the exchange FX and CFD products you can lose more than you deposited and must pay the shortfall at once. We could not open the two main client agreements, so this reading covers the documents around them.

Back to Iwai Cosmo

Contract risk

Harder than average
3.5/10

Where this contract sitsHow far this contract goes, overall. Under 2 is nothing beyond the ordinary; 6 to 9 means several clauses put money you have already earned at risk; 9 and above reads as designed to make payout refusable.

0510
CriticalClauses that can cost you money you have already earned or deposited, or that remove your ability to challenge it.
1
FlaggedEvery clause worth knowing about, at all three severities. Ordinary terms that every broker has are not counted.
15
DocumentsHow many of the broker's own legal files this reading is based on. Each one was downloaded and hashed on the date shown.
31
ContradictionsPlaces where a promise the broker makes in public is not kept by the clause that governs it.
1

How the 15 break downThe same flagged clauses, split by how much each one can cost you. Severity is our reading of the clause, not the broker's label.

Critical1
Warning12
Notice2

The numbers in this contractFigures taken from this broker's own clauses, so the labels differ from broker to broker. The four in the panel above are the same on every report.

1 of these 2 figures comes from a clause we rate critical, which means it can take your money or your profit rather than only delay it.

Critical75%Account limit. Jump to the clause this comes from.Exchange margin losses can exceed your deposit3%Fee you were not shown. Jump to the clause this comes from.Foreign share prices carry a markup of up to 3%

What the documents say

15 clauses worth knowing about, worst first, each quoted from Iwai Cosmo's own files

01

Iwai Cosmo closes every position you hold once your usable margin falls to 75% of what those positions require. The closing orders go to the market at whatever price they get, which can leave you owing more than you put up.

In plain words

Negative balance protection is a limit that stops you owing more than you put in. Without it, one fast market move can leave you owing the broker money on top of your deposit.

Why this matters

You can finish a くりっく365 or くりっく株365 trade owing Iwai Cosmo money rather than simply losing your stake. The outline says you must pay the shortfall immediately, and nothing caps your loss at the margin you deposited.

Exhibit 1CriticalStandard wording75%

ロスカットの注文は成行で執行されますので、ロスカット基準以下で約定することがございます。またロスカットの結果、お預けいただいている証拠金額以上の損失が生じることがございます。
Quoted in 岩井コスモ証券「くりっく株365」取引要綱
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

What it costsLoss cut triggers when your usable margin reaches 75% of the required margin. On a position requiring 100,000 yen of margin that point is 75,000 yen, and Iwai Cosmo then closes it at whatever the market gives, not at the trigger.

Set against a regulated standard: FCA (UK), ESMA (EU), ASIC (Australia)

Firms licensed by the FCA, and firms following the ESMA measures adopted across the EU, must give a retail client negative balance protection on a contract for difference, so the client cannot lose more than the account holds. ASIC requires the same of retail CFD clients. Iwai Cosmo's outlines say the opposite: a loss beyond the deposited margin is yours, and you pay it at once.

Iwai Cosmo is not licensed by these regulators, so this is a comparison of practice, not a finding of any breach.

  • Worse together with Exhibit 3A forced close is also the moment the higher branch commission applies, so the trade you did not choose is the expensive one.
02

Buy a US or Chinese share through a branch or the call desk and Iwai Cosmo sets the price itself. Its fee page says no separate fee is required, then adds that the price moves 2.5% to 3.0% away from the base price.

Why this matters

You pay this going in and again coming out, and it never shows up as a commission. On a 1,000,000 yen purchase, up to 30,000 yen of what you hand over is the markup, before the share has moved at all.

Exhibit 2WarningHarder than usual3%

購入対価のみのお支払い、または、売却対価のみのお受取りとなりますので、別途の手数料は必要ありません。
Quoted in 各種手数料
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference
Our own capture of iwaicosmo.co.jp, taken on Sep 4, 2026Foreign share prices carry a markup of up to 3%Visit this page on the broker's siteDownload the full size image file

What it costsOn a 1,000,000 yen purchase, up to 30,000 yen of the price is Iwai Cosmo's adjustment. Buy and later sell the same holding and up to 60,000 yen has gone into the price on the round trip.

Set against a regulated standard: FCA (UK), CySEC (Cyprus)

Firms licensed by the FCA or by CySEC must show a retail client the total cost of a transaction before it happens, including any markup built into the price, as a cash figure for the deal in front of them. Iwai Cosmo publishes the range on its fee page and gives no figure for your trade.

Iwai Cosmo is not licensed by these regulators, so this is a comparison of practice, not a finding of any breach.

Our readingPricing a retail share trade off the firm's own book is ordinary. Setting the adjustment at 2.5% to 3.0% is wide for a listed US share, and it is several times what the same firm charges the online client who sends the identical trade to the market, where the rate is 0.44% capped at 22 dollars.

03

Iwai Cosmo charges its face to face commission when it closes your margin position for you. You pay your own cheaper online rate only when you close the position yourself.

Why this matters

The one trade you did not choose is the one that costs most. On a 500,000 yen close that is 6,204 yen instead of the 1,100 yen you would have paid online.

Exhibit 3WarningHarder than usual

※ただし、強制決済・強制売却時は、対面取引と同様の手数料を頂戴いたします。
Quoted in 各種手数料
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference
Our own capture of iwaicosmo.co.jp, taken on Sep 4, 2026A forced close is charged at the branch commission rateVisit this page on the broker's siteDownload the full size image file

What it costsA 500,000 yen close costs 1,100 yen on the standard online course. The face to face rate for that size on the general account is 1.128% plus tax, which is 6,204 yen.

04

Every overseas share trade carries what Iwai Cosmo calls 現地諸費用, local costs. The fee page says these differ by exchange and tells you to ask the branch, so no amount appears anywhere.

Why this matters

You agree to pay these before you can find out what they are. The agreement obliges you to pay the foreign market's trading fees, taxes and levies by the settlement date, and no page puts a number on them.

Exhibit 4WarningHarder than usual

取引所ごとに異なります。詳しくはお取引窓口までお問合せください。
Quoted in 各種手数料
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference
Our own capture of iwaicosmo.co.jp, taken on Sep 4, 2026Local charges on overseas dealing are not publishedVisit this page on the broker's siteDownload the full size image file
Set against a regulated standard: FCA (UK), CySEC (Cyprus)

Firms licensed by the FCA or by CySEC must give a retail client an aggregated cost figure before the order, including third party and foreign market charges. Iwai Cosmo's fee page directs you to the counter instead.

Iwai Cosmo is not licensed by these regulators, so this is a comparison of practice, not a finding of any breach.

  • Worse together with Exhibit 2Both routes into a foreign share leave part of the cost unstated: the branch route inside the price, the market route in charges you must ask for.
05

Opening a foreign securities account means agreeing that Iwai Cosmo may send your name, address, date of birth, holdings and trading history to third parties abroad. It states plainly that it cannot tell you which countries in advance.

Why this matters

You give this consent once, for destinations nobody has listed. The candidate list Iwai Cosmo publishes covers more than thirty places, including Russia, China, the Cayman Islands and the Marshall Islands.

Exhibit 5WarningHarder than usual

お客様は、次の各号に掲げる場合に、当該各号に定める者に対し、お客様の個人データ（住所、氏名、連絡先、生年月日、所有する外国証券の数量、取引履歴、その他当該場合に応じて必要なものに限ります。）が提供されることに同意するものとします。
Clause 37 in 外国証券取引約款(個人のお客様用)
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Iwai Cosmo's real prices are inside the price, not in the commission

A US or Chinese share bought through an Iwai Cosmo branch is priced 2.5% to 3.0% away from the base price, on a fee page that says no separate fee is required. Overseas dealing carries local charges the firm will not publish, structured notes carry a structuring cost inside the purchase price, and currency conversion runs at the firm's own rate. The one time Iwai Cosmo closes your margin position for you, it charges the branch commission rather than your online rate.

Cost disclosure2 clauses flagged

Iwai Cosmo's fee page tells you a structured note needs no separate fee. Its own sales policy for that product describes the cost of structuring the note and the value of the sales service as things it should explain to you better.

Why this matters

The cost is real and you pay it on day one, inside the price. Because it is not a fee line, you cannot see how much of your money bought the investment and how much paid for selling it to you.

Exhibit 14WarningStandard wording

購入対価のみのお支払いとなりますので、別途の手数料は必要ありません。
Quoted in 各種手数料
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference
Our own capture of iwaicosmo.co.jp, taken on Sep 4, 2026The claim, on Fee page, structured note rowVisit this page on the broker's siteDownload the full size image file

When your money crosses currencies, Iwai Cosmo applies its own rate rather than the market rate. It publishes the spread it adds: 50 sen per US dollar, 1 yen per euro and 2 yen per British pound.

Why this matters

This is a cost on every foreign currency bond, coupon and redemption you hold. On 10,000 US dollars converted back to yen, the 50 sen spread is 5,000 yen, and you pay it again in the other direction.

Exhibit 13NoticeStandard wording

売買、償還等にあたり、円貨と外貨を交換する際には、外国為替市場の動向をふまえて当社が決定した為替レートによるものとします。
Quoted in 各種手数料
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

What it costsThe published spread on the US dollar is 50 sen per dollar. Convert 10,000 dollars and 5,000 yen of the result is the spread, whichever way the rate has moved.

Dividend money can be held back for as long as the cause lasts

Where currency conditions change suddenly or a foreign exchange market closes, Iwai Cosmo's settlement company can withhold dividends and redemption proceeds until that cause disappears. The agreement sets no outer limit on the wait and states that no interest or other consideration is added.

Getting paid1 clause flagged

If currency conditions change suddenly or a foreign exchange market closes, the settlement company can hold your dividends and redemption money until that cause disappears. No deadline is set.

Why this matters

Your money can sit unpaid for as long as the condition lasts. The clause adds that nothing is added for the delay, so you are not compensated for the wait.

Exhibit 8WarningHarder than usual

配当金等の支払いを当該事由が消滅するまで留保することまたは外貨により行うことができるものとします。この場合において留保する配当金等には、利息その他の対価をつけないものとします。
Clause 8(7) in 外国証券取引約款(個人のお客様用)
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Money and rights you have earned can stop being yours

Dividends on foreign shares that go unclaimed for five years cease to be owed, and Iwai Cosmo applies that rule to payments designated before it takes effect in 2030. Subscription rights attached to your holdings are sold by default unless you ask otherwise, and where the firm cannot sell them the rights lose their effect entirely.

Entitlements2 clauses flagged

Money from your foreign shares that you have not taken for five years stops being owed to you. Iwai Cosmo and the settlement company are released from paying it, counted from the date payment was due to start.

Why this matters

A dividend you never noticed can simply stop being yours. The rule takes effect in October 2030, and Iwai Cosmo applies it to payments whose start date was set before that.

Exhibit 6WarningHarder than usual

配当金等の支払手続きにおいて、決済会社が配当金等の支払いを開始する日として指定した日から５年を経過してもなお受領されないときは、決済会社および当社はその支払義務を免れるものとします。
Clause 8(8) in 外国証券取引約款(個人のお客様用)
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Our readingA time limit on claiming a dividend is normal. Writing the rule so that it reaches back to payments already designated before it took effect is what makes this one unusual.

When your foreign shares come with new subscription rights, Iwai Cosmo sells them by default and sends you the cash. If it cannot sell them, the rights simply lose their effect.

Why this matters

You lose the choice to take up the rights unless you ask in time, and Iwai Cosmo is not obliged to succeed in selling them. When it cannot, that value is gone rather than delayed.

Exhibit 7WarningStandard wording

ただし、当該外国証券の発行者が所在する国等の諸法令もしくは慣行等によりまたは市場の状況により、当社が当該新株予約権等の全部または一部を売却できないときは、当該全部または一部の新株予約権等はその効力を失います。
Clause 19(2) in 外国証券取引約款(個人のお客様用)
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Iwai Cosmo decides when your positions and your account end

On the くりっく365 and くりっく株365 products, Iwai Cosmo closes everything you hold once usable margin reaches 75% of what is required, at market, and a shortfall beyond your deposit is payable immediately. Positions in an ETF being consolidated or delisted can be settled for you on a short timetable. The foreign securities account can also be ended when the firm judges trust has been lost.

Exit conditions2 clauses flagged

Iwai Cosmo can end the agreement when it judges that trust between you has been lost, or for other unavoidable reasons. It can also close an account that has sat with no balance for a period it sets and does not publish.

Why this matters

Neither trigger has a test you can check yourself. On closure, holdings that cannot be handed back as they are get sold, so the exit can happen at a price you did not choose.

Exhibit 11WarningHarder than usual

お客様と当社との間で信頼関係の喪失その他やむを得ない事由により、当社が解約すべきと判断したとき
Clause 32(1)(12) in 外国証券取引約款(個人のお客様用)
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where an ETF behind a くりっく株365 contract is consolidated, split or delisted, the exchange can suspend the product. Positions still open at the set date are settled for you at the market price of that moment.

Why this matters

The outline warns that the gap between the announcement and the forced settlement can be short. A loss you were waiting out can be crystallised on a timetable you had no part in setting.

Exhibit 12WarningStandard wordingNew

この場合において、お客様が建玉を保有し、所定の期日までに反対売買を行わないときには、当該建玉は強制的に決済され、その時点での相場によっては損が実現することがあります。また、ETFの投資口併合等の内容・状況によっては、東京金融取引所のかかる措置の決定・通知から強制決済までの期間が短いことがありえます。
Quoted in 岩井コスモ証券「くりっく株365」取引要綱
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Iwai Cosmo is excused when a seal matches or a foreign broker fails

If Iwai Cosmo judges that a seal impression matches your registered seal, it is not liable for the money paid out or securities released on that basis. A second exclusion covers orders that a foreign broker delays or never places, which the agreement states is not a system failure of Iwai Cosmo.

Where the loss lands1 clause flagged

If Iwai Cosmo decides the seal on a document matches the one you registered, it is not liable for what follows. That covers money paid out and securities returned on the strength of that seal.

Why this matters

Someone using a copied seal can move your money, and the loss stays with you. A separate clause also removes Iwai Cosmo's responsibility when a foreign broker delays or never places your order.

Exhibit 9WarningStandard wording

当社所定の書類に押印した印影と届出の印鑑とが相違ないものと当社が認めて、金銭の授受、保管の委託をした証券の返還その他の処理が行われたことにより生じた損害
Clause 33(5) in 外国証券取引約款(個人のお客様用)
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Our readingSeal verification clauses are long standing in Japanese banking and broking documents, and Japanese courts have limited them where the firm was careless. The clause as written still puts the first loss on you.

Iwai Cosmo picks the court, from its head office or any branch

Litigation under the foreign securities agreement goes to a court that Iwai Cosmo designates, chosen from the courts covering its head office or any of its branches. Japanese law governs, which is the natural forum for a domestic firm, but the venue inside Japan is the firm's choice and not yours.

Choice of court1 clause flagged

If you go to court over this agreement, Iwai Cosmo picks the venue. It may name the court covering its head office or the court covering any one of its branches.

Why this matters

You could be told to litigate hundreds of kilometres from home. Iwai Cosmo has branches from Kyushu to Kanto, and the choice among them is its own, not yours.

Exhibit 10WarningHarder than usual

お客様と当社との間の本約款の取引に関する訴訟については、当社本店または支店の所在地を管轄する裁判所のうちから当社が管轄裁判所を指定することができるものとします。
Clause 34 in 外国証券取引約款(個人のお客様用)
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

A domestic Japanese broker with outside assurance on segregation

岩井コスモ証券株式会社 is registered with the Kinki Local Finance Bureau as 金商 number 15 and belongs to the Japan Securities Dealers Association, the Japan Investment Advisers Association and the Financial Futures Association of Japan. Client asset segregation as at 31 March 2026 carries both an outside assurance report and a statement signed by the chief executive, and FINMAC is named as the external route for complaints.

Who you deal with1 clause flagged

Iwai Cosmo is registered with the Kinki Local Finance Bureau as 金商 number 15 and belongs to three Japanese self regulatory bodies. Its chief executive signs an annual statement that client assets were segregated under the law.

Why this matters

This is a domestic regulated firm, not an offshore one, and you can take a dispute to FINMAC rather than only to the firm. Whether the licence is current is a separate question from what the contract says.

Exhibit 15NoticeStandard wording

この手続の実施の結果、私たちは、2026年3月31日現在において、岩井コスモ証券株式会社が法令を遵守して顧客資産を分別管理していたことを表明する。
Quoted in 分別管理の法令遵守に関する経営者報告書
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where the marketing and the contract disagree

A promise made in public, set against the clause that governs it

01

The fee page says a structured note carries no separate fee, while Iwai Cosmo's own sales policy names the structuring cost and the sales consideration you are paying inside the price.

Said in public, in Japanese

購入対価のみのお支払いとなりますので、別途の手数料は必要ありません。

Word for word in English: You pay only the purchase price, so no separate fee is required.

Fee page, structured note row

We took a picture of this page. It is shown once, with the finding it belongs to. See our capture of iwaicosmo.co.jp

In the contract

仕組債の購入に係わる費用等（仕組債組成に要する費用等及び販売役務の対価相当額）

What changed quietly

This is our first reading of Iwai Cosmo, so there is nothing to compare it against. Where earlier copies of individual documents existed we compared them, and those changes are listed below.

  • ADDEDClause · 2023.01.23 to 2026.04.06

    Forced settlement on an ETF consolidation or delisting was added to the exchange CFD outline after 2023, and it can arrive on a short timetable.

    この場合において、お客様が建玉を保有し、所定の期日までに反対売買を行わないときには、当該建玉は強制的に決済され、その時点での相場によっては損が実現することがあります。

  • REWRITTENClause · 2023.01.23 to 2026.04.06

    The leverage shown on the Nikkei 225 contract fell from about 38 times to about 21 times, so the same position now needs more of your money behind it.

    約21倍のレバレッジﾞでお取引できます（2024年8月30日現在）。

  • ADDEDClause · 2023.01.23 to 2026.04.06

    Iwai Cosmo added a warning that market makers may stop quoting and that thin indices can leave you unable to trade at the price you want.

    また、平常時においても流動性の低い株価指数の取引を行う際には、希望する価格での取引ができない等の不利益を被る可能性があります。

The documents this reading is based on

31 files, all published by Iwai Cosmo. Each shows when we read it and a fingerprint of its wording.

WIKILIX keeps the copy of each file it read, and does not republish it: what is published is the fingerprint of its wording. Download the file yourself and hash its text, lowercased with runs of whitespace collapsed, and a matching fingerprint means the wording quoted above is still the wording Iwai Cosmo publishes.

How this reading was done

Every clause above was read out of a document Iwai Cosmo publishes itself

This reading was published on .

Documents
17 of 31downloaded from the broker's site, and 17 read in full
Pages opened
58pages walked to find those documents, footer links included
Older copies
8earlier versions downloaded, 2 identical to the copy we hold by fingerprint
Marketing pages
11public pages set against what the contract says

Who the contract is with

岩井コスモ証券株式会社

You contract with 岩井コスモ証券株式会社, IwaiCosmo Securities Co.,Ltd, a Japanese financial instruments business operator. Its own documents give the registration as 近畿財務局長(金商)第15号 and name three self regulatory bodies: the Japan Securities Dealers Association, the Japan Investment Advisers Association and the Financial Futures Association of Japan. The segregation report is signed by 代表取締役会長 CEO 沖津嘉昭. This is not an offshore entity, and it is not the listed holding company 岩井コスモホールディングス.

Quotations are copied verbatim from the documents named above, with the clause number and the page each one came from. Where a clause is quoted in another language, the original is shown first and the English is a translation.

The plain-language parts, what a clause means for a client, how ordinary it is, and how it reads against a regulated standard, are WIKILIX's analysis and are labelled as such on every card. This is a reading of public documents, not legal advice and not an allegation of wrongdoing.

In fairness, and what we could not check

A reader who knows the edges of the work can trust the middle of it

Iwai Cosmo publishes more than most brokers its size. It gives a full currency spread table covering 15 currencies down to the sen, so the conversion cost is at least knowable. It publishes the realised risk and return record of the structured notes it actually sold, updated to March 2026. Client asset segregation carries an outside assurance report and a report signed by the chief executive. Its 2026 exchange CFD outline carries noticeably more risk disclosure than the 2023 one, including a new passage on what happens when market makers stop quoting. It names FINMAC, the external complaints body, on its own pages.

We did not read the two agreements that matter most. Iwai Cosmo publishes the 総合取引約款 for individuals at 82 pages and for companies at 68 pages, and we could not open either. The same is true of the NISA and Junior NISA agreements and of the two agreements behind the くりっく365 and くりっく株365 margin products. Everything here comes from what we did read: the foreign securities agreements for individuals and companies, the two exchange margin outlines, the fee page, the structured note policy and the privacy documents. The exchange margin findings therefore rest on Iwai Cosmo's own product outlines rather than on the agreements themselves, and the unread agreements may hold terms that change the picture. The FX and CFD product pages sit on a separate Iwai Cosmo website, outside the domains we checked.

How to check any of this yourself

Every quote above links to the Iwai Cosmo file it came from. This is what to do with it.

Open the three stepsFind the words in the source, work out the fingerprint, and read what a difference does and does not prove.

Open the source and search for the words

Every quote has a link under it. Open the file, or the web page, and search it for the words we quote. The clause number next to the quote tells you where to look.

If the words are not there any more, the source may have changed after we read it. That is worth knowing too. We keep the date we read it, and a code worked out from its wording, so the quote stays checkable.

What a fingerprint is

A fingerprint is a code worked out from what a source says. Change one word and the code changes completely. We keep two codes for every file we read, and the panel on each source shows both.

The first is the code of the exact file we downloaded. The second is the code of its wording alone, with capital letters lowered and runs of spaces collapsed. When the same words are saved as a new file, the first code changes and the second one stays the same.

Only the first code can be worked out on your own computer. Save the file, then run one of these, putting the name of the file you saved where the example is. The panel on each source prints the command with that source's real file name already in it.

macOS or Linux:
  shasum -a 256 the-file-you-saved.pdf

Windows:
  certutil -hashfile the-file-you-saved.pdf SHA256

The two codes are different from each other, and they are not meant to match. Comparing one against the other proves nothing.

What a difference means, and what it does not

A different file code on its own proves nothing. A PDF saved again with a new date inside it is a new file saying exactly the same thing.

A different wording code means the words themselves changed. That is the one that matters, and it is why we keep it.

Even then, a change is not proof of bad faith. Companies update their documents. What this report says is what the document said on the day we read it, and every quote carries that date.

A source that is a web page and not a file has no file to save, so only the code of its wording is shown.

How this report is made

Every clause quoted above comes from a document Iwai Cosmo publishes on its own website, downloaded and hashed on the date shown, with the clause number and page recorded so any reader can check it. We do not allege anything the documents do not say, and we do not judge Iwai Cosmo on anything other than its own published terms and its own public marketing. Where a clause has a qualifier that softens it, the report says so. Last read Sep 4, 2026.

If you represent Iwai Cosmo and a clause has changed, been withdrawn, or is being read out of context, tell us and we will re-read the documents and update this page. Corrections from the broker are welcome and are published with the reading they change. Contact us.

This is a reading of a contract, not legal advice and not a ruling on Iwai Cosmo. Whether its licence is real and current is a separate check on the broker profile.

Back to the Iwai Cosmo profile