Last year, existing brokerage firms and new entrants could not wait to pitch their online stands. Over the space of 18 months, roughly 40 contenders set up shop. Today, the marketing hype is gone and the new buzzwords are retrenchment and consolidation.

Industry observers believe there may only be room for 20 players. As with most industries, analysts expect the market to polarise between the larger, global players such as E*Trade, Charles Schwab and DAB, which owns Self Trade in the UK, and the niche operators such as Internaxx, which targets offshore investors such as US and UK expatriates.