(Adds comments from banks and brokers, details of losses)
By Elzio Barreto
HONG KONG, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Some retail foreign exchangebrokers and trading houses in Asia have been hit by massivelosses from Swiss National Bank's (SNB) sudden move to abandon acap on its currency that led to heavy volatility, with one evenbeing forced to close.
Regulators in New Zealand and Hong Kong said on Friday theywere looking into the situation of brokers and banks trading theSwiss franc, following reports of the volatility and losses.
The Swiss currency surged as much as 30 percent to a high of0.8500 franc per euro after the SNB suddenlyditched its commitment to cap the franc at 1.20 per euro onThursday.
The surprise move caused New Zealand foreign exchange dealerGlobal Brokers NZ Ltd to close due to hefty losses incurred fromthe volatility.
New Zealand's Financial Market Authority (FMA) said it would"be seeking assurances that the client funds have been protectedand segregated" after Global Brokers said it sustained a totalloss of operating capital.
BROKER WOES
FXCM Inc, one of the biggest platforms catering toonline and retail traders of currencies, said it may be inbreach of some regulatory capital requirements after its clientssuffered $225 million of losses.
"We are following up with the banks on their practice inthis regard including the relevant governing terms andconditions to understand the implication, if any, but we wouldnot comment on the situation of individual banks," the Hong KongMonetary Authority (HKMA) said in an emailed statement.
Foreign exchange broker OANDA said in a statement it "willpardon our clients' negative account balances associated withthis market event" and vowed not to "re-quote or amend" clients'trades on the Swiss currency.
"Today's events are sure to trigger broker consolidation,which as an extremely well capitalized broker, interests usgreatly," OANDA added.
OANDA's move contrasted to Denmark's Saxo Bank, one of thebiggest players in retail foreign exchange trading, which saidlate on Thursday it would potentially set different rates forits clients' transactions.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong media reported clients of HSBC Holdings were able to buy the Swiss currency at below-marketrates for several hours through its online system, makingseveral thousand dollars in profits on the trades.
HSBC said online foreign exchange trading for the Swissfranc "is currently operating normally and we will investigatereports that customers could trade at old rates initially afterthe cap was lifted." (Additional reporting by Michelle Chen in Hong Kong and LincolnFeast in Sydney; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)