Wikilix
Contract reading

What Phillip legally published, but does not want you to read

Every clause below is published by Phillip 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: フィリップ・キャピタル証券株式会社 (PhillipCapital Japan Ltd.)

hidden feesole discretionaccount closurecountry restrictiondeemed acceptancedispute windowunilateral amendmentwithdrawalsage limitconclusive records

PhillipCapital Japan is a licensed Japanese broker, registered with the Kanto Local Finance Bureau, and it holds client margin in trust. Two clauses still deserve a slow read. Your account statement counts as approved 15 days after the firm posts it behind your login. A margin shortfall gives you until noon the next business day, then the firm can close every position without notice.

Contract risk

Harder than average
4.5/10

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.
2
FlaggedEvery clause worth knowing about, at all three severities. Ordinary terms that every broker has are not counted.
16
DocumentsHow many of the broker's own legal files this reading is based on. Each one was downloaded and hashed on the date shown.
21
ContradictionsPlaces where a promise the broker makes in public is not kept by the clause that governs it.
3

How the 16 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.

Critical2
Warning11
Notice3

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.

2 of these 4 figures come from a clause we rate critical, which means it can take your money or your profit rather than only delay it.

What the documents say

16 clauses worth knowing about, worst first, each quoted from Phillip's own files

01

Your account statement lands in the login area of the website, and you get 15 days to object. After that, article 27.2 of the online trading agreement treats every line in it as approved by you.

Why this matters

A wrong trade or a fee you never agreed to becomes final if you do not write in within 15 days. PhillipCapital Japan can deliver that statement by posting it behind your login, so the clock runs while you are not looking.

Exhibit 1CriticalHarder than usual15 days

取引残高報告書を交付した後、15 日以内にご連絡がなかったときは、当社はその記載事項すべてについてご承認いただいたものとさせていただきます。
Clause 27.2 in オンライントレード取引約款, p.5
Read from the broker's site on Archived copyOpen the reference
Set against a regulated standard: FCA (UK)

Firms licensed by the FCA give a retail client six months to take a complaint to the ombudsman service after the firm's final answer. This contract ends the argument 15 days after a statement goes out.

Phillip is not licensed by this regulator, so this is a comparison of practice, not a finding of any breach.

What happens, and when

The stages this clause runs through, taken from the broker's own document
TriggerWhat the broker may then doClause
At least every 3 monthsPhillipCapital Japan issues a balance report of your trades and holdings.27.1
Once a year if you did not tradeThe same report goes out, covering a year of holdings.27.1
Day 15 after deliveryEverything written in the report counts as approved by you.27.2
  • Worse together with Exhibit 11Once the 15 days pass, the only surviving account of the trade is the firm's own record, which article 20 makes decisive.
  • Worse together with Exhibit 12A trade placed by somebody else with your login has to be spotted and disputed inside the same 15 days.
02

A margin shortfall measured after the close gives you until noon on the next business day to pay it. Miss that and article 11.4 lets PhillipCapital Japan close every position you hold, without telling you first.

Why this matters

Your trade can be shut at the worst price of the day while you are at work. The trading rules add that the firm may then stop your account trading at all.

Exhibit 4CriticalHarder than usual1 working days

前項の追加証拠金の期限は、当該追加証拠金が発生した翌営業日正午とします。
Clause 11.3 in 先物・オプション取引規定, p.2
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference
Set against a regulated standard: FCA (UK), ESMA (EU)

Firms under FCA and ESMA rules must close a retail leveraged account out at half the required margin, and cannot pursue a retail client for a negative balance. Phillip's own FX page says a loss can exceed the margin you deposited.

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

What happens, and when

The stages this clause runs through, taken from the broker's own document
TriggerWhat the broker may then doClause
After each trading day closesPhillipCapital Japan revalues your positions and works out any shortfall.11.1
Noon the next business dayThe extra margin has to be in the account by then.11.3
Deadline missedThe firm can close out every position you hold, without notice.11.4
After the close outThe firm can put trading restrictions on your account.13(2)
  • Worse together with Exhibit 12If the platform is down on the morning of the deadline, the money still has to arrive by noon and the outage loss stays with you.
03

PhillipCapital Japan converts your US share money at a mid rate it sets itself, plus or minus 50 sen (0.50 yen) a dollar. That rate sits in a trading rules PDF, not in any commission table.

Why this matters

Every $10,000 you convert costs you 5,000 yen going in, and 5,000 yen again coming back. The same clause lets the firm swap in a rate of its own choosing if the market moves sharply.

Exhibit 5WarningHarder than usual$0.5

アメリカドル TTM を基準に±50 銭
Clause (20) in 米国株式取引ルール(対面取引用), p.3
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

What it costsA $10,000 US share purchase converts at 50 sen over the mid rate, so 5,000 yen goes on conversion alone. Selling and converting back costs another 5,000 yen.

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

Firms licensed by the FCA or CySEC must show a retail client the total cost of a deal, the conversion charge included, before the client trades. Here that rate lives in a separate rules document from the fee tables.

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

04

The English site says PhillipCapital Japan accepts account applications from most countries. Article 4.2 of the online trading agreement accepts an individual only if you live in Japan and can hold a conversation in Japanese.

Why this matters

You can send identity papers from abroad, get turned down, and never learn why. Article 3.1 of the same agreement says the firm gives no reason when it refuses an application.

Exhibit 2WarningStandard wording

お客様が個人にあっては、国内に居住されていること
Clause 4.2(1) in オンライントレード取引約款, p.1
Read from the broker's site on Archived copyOpen the reference
Our own capture of phillip.co.jp, taken on Sep 2, 2026The claim, on Opening an Account section, English siteVisit this page on the broker's siteDownload the full size image file

The costs that are not in the commission table

50 sen a dollar on currency conversion is the largest cost PhillipCapital Japan keeps off its fee pages. US dividends reach you after a Singapore dollar charge of 1%, capped at S$50. The FX page calls withdrawals free, while article 24.5 puts the transfer fee on you unless the firm chooses to pay it.

Cost disclosure2 clauses flagged

A cash dividend on your US shares reaches you after PhillipCapital Japan deducts a Singapore dollar fee: S$1 up to S$100, then 1% of the dividend, capped at S$50.

Why this matters

You are paid in yen, minus a fee in a third currency you never chose. The same page adds that other foreign costs may apply, without saying what they are.

Exhibit 6WarningHarder than usual1%

S$100 を超えるもの 配当金の 1% (上限 S$50)
Clause (22) in 米国株式取引ルール(対面取引用), p.4
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

The FX page lists withdrawals as free. Article 24.5 of the online trading agreement puts the transfer fee on you, and lets PhillipCapital Japan cover part or all of it only if it chooses to.

Why this matters

The free payout you signed up for is not something you can hold the firm to. Article 22.2 also lets the company revise its fees whenever economic conditions shift.

Exhibit 8WarningHarder than usual

出金手続きにかかわる振込みに要する手数料は、お客様にご負担いただくものとします。但し、当社の定めるところにより当該手数料の一部又は全部を当社が負担する場合があります。
Clause 24.5 in オンライントレード取引約款, p.4
Read from the broker's site on Archived copyOpen the reference
  • Worse together with Exhibit 13The firm can raise a fee and then treat your silence for 15 days as agreement to the change.

Two business days, and a 10,000 yen floor on part payouts

PhillipCapital Japan pays FX withdrawals two business days after a 15:00 cut off, and the amount leaves your trading account straight away. Anything short of the full balance has to be 10,000 yen or more. On futures, article 9 blocks payout of profit on a position you still hold.

Getting money out1 clause flagged

You can take out 10,000 yen or more, or the whole balance, and nothing in between. The money leaves your trading account at once and reaches your bank two business days later.

Why this matters

For two business days the money sits in neither the market nor your bank. Futures profit on a position you still hold cannot be paid out at all. Unsettled trades on other products can cut the amount you receive.

Exhibit 7WarningHarder than usual2 working days

マイページからご依頼ください。銀行営業日当日の15時00分までに受け付けたものは、銀行翌々営業日の出金となります。全額出金以外の最低出金額は10,000円以上となります。
Quoted in サービス概要(フィリップMT5・FX)
Downloaded from the broker's site on Open the reference

PhillipCapital Japan sets who may trade, and when it closes you out

Noon on the next business day is all you get to cover a margin shortfall before PhillipCapital Japan can close every position you hold. The online service takes individuals aged 20 to 74 only. Changes to the agreement bind you 15 days after notice, or the moment you place a new trade.

Entry and exit2 clauses flagged

You cannot open the online trading service if you are 75 or older, or under 20. Article 4.2 also shuts out anyone in a household receiving welfare payments.

Why this matters

The contract says nothing about a client who turns 75 while trading. Article 31.8 lets PhillipCapital Japan end the service once it finds a client outside the entry criteria.

Exhibit 3WarningRarely seen75

お客様が個人にあっては、年齢が 75 歳未満であること
Clause 4.2(3) in オンライントレード取引約款, p.1
Read from the broker's site on Archived copyOpen the reference

Our readingJapan's industry guidance asks firms to add checks for older clients, and Phillip publishes that leaflet itself. A flat entry bar at 75 does something else: it removes the account instead of adding a step.

PhillipCapital Japan can change the agreement and treat your silence as consent after 15 days. Placing one new trade after the notice counts as consent on its own.

Why this matters

Terms you never read can bind you because you traded once. Changes the firm calls minor arrive as a website posting, with no notice to you at all.

Exhibit 13WarningHarder than usual15 days

お客様は本約款の変更に同意しない場合は、前項に基づく通知の受領後 15 日以内に当社に申し出るものとします。係る申し出がない場合は、本規定の変更に同意したものとみなします。
Clause 36.3 in オンライントレード取引約款, p.8
Read from the broker's site on Archived copyOpen the reference

Silence, and the firm's own record, close most arguments

Article 27.2 gives you 15 days to object to a statement before every line in it counts as approved. Article 20 then settles any dispute on PhillipCapital Japan's record of what you typed. Article 33.1 clears the firm of loss on a trade placed with your ID, whoever placed it, unless the firm acted deliberately or with gross negligence.

Deemed agreement2 clauses flagged

When you and PhillipCapital Japan disagree about a trade, article 20 settles it on the firm's record of what you typed. Article 25 does the same for money going in and out.

Why this matters

Your own screenshot counts for nothing against the firm's log. The contract gives you no way to test how that log was made.

Exhibit 11WarningHarder than usual

お客様が本サービスを利用して行う取引の内容について、お客様と当社との間で疑義が生じたときは、お客様の本サービスを利用するに際して入力された当社の記録内容をもって処理するものとします。
Clause 20 in オンライントレード取引約款, p.4
Read from the broker's site on Archived copyOpen the reference

PhillipCapital Japan treats a trade placed with your ID as yours, even if you did not place it. Article 33.1 clears the firm of that loss, and of losses from a stolen password too.

Why this matters

If somebody gets into your account and trades, the money is gone and the claim is yours to swallow. The exception is narrow: the firm answers only for its own intent or serious carelessness.

Exhibit 12WarningStandard wording

お客様自身が入力したか否かを問わず、当社がユーザーID 等の一致を確認した上で行われた取引に関する損害。
Clause 33.1(1) in オンライントレード取引約款, p.7
Read from the broker's site on Archived copyOpen the reference

PhillipCapital Japan names the court if you sue it

Article 39 lets PhillipCapital Japan pick the court from those covering its head office. The futures account agreement widens that choice to any branch. Japanese law governs both, and the head office moved to Toranomon in Tokyo in August 2026.

Choice of court1 clause flagged

If you sue PhillipCapital Japan, the firm decides which court the case goes to. Article 39 gives it the choice among courts covering its head office, and the futures agreement widens that to any branch.

Why this matters

You cannot file where you live and hold the firm to it. The head office moved to Toranomon in Tokyo in August 2026, so the venue follows the firm, not you.

Exhibit 10WarningHarder than usual

お客様と当社との間の本約款に関する訴訟については、当社本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できるものとします。
Clause 39 in オンライントレード取引約款, p.8
Read from the broker's site on Archived copyOpen the reference

Your foreign share order goes to a company in the same group

Every foreign share order at PhillipCapital Japan passes to a Phillip group company in Singapore before it reaches the market. The published conflict of interest policy covers one company, the Japanese one. The Singapore parent owns 100% of it.

Related parties1 clause flagged

Every foreign share order you place goes to a Phillip group company in Singapore before it reaches the market. The conflict of interest policy covers one company only: the Japanese one.

Why this matters

The firm handling your order sits inside the same group as your broker, and outside the policy meant to protect you from that. Phillip's Singapore parent owns 100% of the Japanese company.

Exhibit 9WarningHarder than usual

ご注文は全て、当社グループ企業フィリップセキュリティーズプライベートリミテッド(シンガポール)社に取次のうえ、現地市場へ発注されます。
Clause (21) in 米国株式取引ルール(対面取引用), p.4
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference
Set against a regulated standard: FCA (UK), CySEC (Cyprus)

Firms licensed by the FCA or CySEC must identify conflicts arising anywhere in their group, not only inside the licensed company. This policy names one company as its whole scope.

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

A year at zero, and the login stops working

PhillipCapital Japan charges nothing for holding an account, and no maintenance fee appears in its fee tables. Article 32 makes an account dormant after a year at zero with no trades, and restricts the login. Article 31.12 lets the firm end the agreement once a zero balance has lasted a reasonable period.

Dormant accounts1 clause flagged

An account that hits zero and sits without a trade for a year becomes dormant, and PhillipCapital Japan restricts the login. Nothing is charged for holding the account.

Why this matters

You lose access rather than money, and getting back in means contacting the firm. Article 31.12 also lets the company end the agreement once a zero balance has lasted what it calls a reasonable period.

Exhibit 14NoticeStandard wording

また、口座残高がゼロ円となり、その後建玉および取引がなく 1 年を経過した場合、該当する口座を休眠扱いとしログインを制限します。
Clause 32 in オンライントレード取引約款, p.6
Read from the broker's site on Archived copyOpen the reference

One firm, three names, and an English licence number from 2018

PhillipCapital Japan holds registration 127 with the Kanto Local Finance Bureau and belongs to the Japan Securities Dealers Association. Its trading agreement, dated June 2026, still names the firm Phillip Securities, the name it used until August 2026. The English page shows a commodity futures registration from 2018, where the Japanese pages show one from 2024.

Who you contract with2 clauses flagged

The English site lists a commodity futures registration issued in 2018. The Japanese footer and company page both give a later one, issued in 2024.

Why this matters

Check the licence in English and you check a number the firm no longer publishes in Japanese. The registration you can verify is Kanto Local Finance Bureau number 127.

Exhibit 15Notice

商品先物取引業者/経済産業省20240430商第6号 農林水産省指令6新食第341号
Quoted in 免責事項・著作権・リンク
Downloaded from the broker's site on Open the reference
Our own capture of phillip.co.jp, taken on Sep 2, 2026The claim, on Licenses box, English siteVisit this page on the broker's siteDownload the full size image file
Our own capture of phillip.co.jp, taken on Sep 2, 2026What the contract saysVisit this page on the broker's siteDownload the full size image file

The online trading agreement, dated June 2026, says you contract with Phillip Securities. The firm became PhillipCapital Japan in August 2026, and its website now uses that name throughout.

Why this matters

You are contracting with the same company under an older name, which is lawful in Japan but hard for you to check. The English site still carries that older name and the former head office address.

Exhibit 16Notice

この約款は、お客様とフィリップ証券株式会社(以下、「当社」といいます)との間におけるインターネットまたは電話
Clause 1 in オンライントレード取引約款, p.1
Read from the broker's site on Archived copyOpen the reference

Where the marketing and the contract disagree

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

01

The English page takes applications worldwide, and the same site's Japanese agreement takes individuals only if they live in Japan.

Said in public, in English

We accept account opening applications from most jurisdictions around the world including Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, the United States, United Kingdom, and Cayman Islands.

Opening an Account section, English site

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

In the contract · clause 4.2(1)

お客様が個人にあっては、国内に居住されていること

02

The FX page prints withdrawals as free, while the agreement puts the transfer fee on you unless the firm decides to cover it.

Said in public, in Japanese

入金:お客様負担(クイック入金の場合は無料、通常の銀行振込の場合はお客様負担) 出金:無料

Word for word in English: Deposits: borne by the customer (free for quick deposit, borne by the customer for an ordinary bank transfer). Withdrawals: free.

Deposit and withdrawal fee row, FX service outline page

In the contract · clause 24.5

出金手続きにかかわる振込みに要する手数料は、お客様にご負担いただくものとします。

03

The English licence box gives a 2018 commodity futures registration where the Japanese pages give a 2024 one.

Said in public, in English

Commodity Futures Broker(Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) 20180404 CommerceNo. 1 & Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) Directive30, Food Industry Affairs Bureau No. 412)

Licenses box, English site

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

In the contract

商品先物取引業者/経済産業省20240430商第6号 農林水産省指令6新食第341号

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

The documents this reading is based on

21 files, all published by Phillip. 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 Phillip publishes.

How this reading was done

Every clause above was read out of a document Phillip publishes itself

This reading was published on .

Documents
6 of 21downloaded from the broker's site, and 6 read in full
Pages opened
80pages walked to find those documents, footer links included
Older copies
1earlier versions downloaded, 1 identical to the copy we hold by fingerprint
Marketing pages
11public pages set against what the contract says
Languages
EN vs JAthe language it advertises in, against the language it contracts in

Who the contract is with

フィリップ・キャピタル証券株式会社 (PhillipCapital Japan Ltd.)

Your counterparty is PhillipCapital Japan Ltd., a Tokyo company founded in 1944 and owned outright by Phillip Brokerage Pte. Ltd. of Singapore. Its company page gives registration 127 with the Kanto Local Finance Bureau, for first and second category financial instruments business, plus a commodity futures registration and a real estate licence. The trading documents still name it Phillip Securities, the name it used until August 2026. Its English page presents it as Phillip Securities Japan, Ltd. at the former Nihonbashi office. It is not the Singapore parent, and it is not the Singapore group company that receives your foreign share orders.

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

Client margin on the FX product goes into trust at SBI Clearing Trust, apart from the firm's own money, and PhillipCapital Japan names every liquidity provider behind its quotes. There is no account maintenance fee, no bonus scheme and no lock on your deposit. The firm publishes its capital adequacy ratio and its client asset segregation audit, and its footer points you to FINMAC, the independent securities mediation centre. Online clients cannot write options, which caps the worst case on the futures account. On foreign share commissions the company carries the local market costs itself.

The PDFs on this site do not copy out as readable text: the words come back as broken characters. We read each one as it renders on screen, so every quotation is the wording the document itself shows. Four contract documents we did not read at all: the foreign securities account agreement, the foreign securities risk statement, the pre contract document for futures and options, and the pre contract document for margin trading. We read part of the futures account setting agreement, part of the face to face commission table and part of the reconstruction tax Q and A. The reconstruction tax leaflet is published as an image with no text inside it, so nobody read it. The personal information declaration would not open as a file, and we read the same words on the company's own page instead. The institutional site and the MT5 terminal refused us: one asked for a password, the other did not answer. No FX or CFD trading agreement exists in the public document set, so the MT5 terms here come from the online trading agreement and the service outline page.

How to check any of this yourself

Every quote above links to the Phillip 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 Phillip 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 Phillip 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 2, 2026.

If you represent Phillip 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 Phillip. Whether its licence is real and current is a separate check on the broker profile.