What’s New on the FSA Website

Week of December 23, 2019 - December 27, 2019

This page contains the latest in events, developments, and updates to the FSA website.

Public Comments

(The following public comments are available in Japanese)

December 27, 2019	Publication of the finalized amendments to the "Cabinet Office Order on the Audit Certification of Financial Statements" <Summary> The FSA finalized the amendments to the "Cabinet Office Order on the Audit Certification of Financial Statements." The amended Cabinet Office Order reflects the amendments to the audit standards with regard to the description of the basis of an audit opinion in an audit report in response to the request by the Business Accounting Council to further enhance the accountability and information provision regarding audits from external auditors (audit firms). The amended Cabinet Office Order was enforced on December 27, 2019.
December 27, 2019	Publication of the finalized amendments to the "Comprehensive Guidelines for Supervision of Financial Instruments Business Operators" <Summary> The FSA finalized the amendments to the "Comprehensive Guidelines for Supervision of Financial Instruments Business Operators." The amendments expressly set forth in the Guidelines that the composition and sale of investment trusts (investment corporations) which invest in assets other than Specified Assets* such as crypto-asset (virtual currency) are not appropriate. * Securities, real property, and other assets that Cabinet Order specifies as those in which it is necessary to facilitate investment.
December 25, 2019	Publication of the finalized amendment to the regulatory notice designating transactions and lending/borrowing to be excluded from the transactions subject to the regulations on "Financial Instruments Obligation Assumption Business" <Summary> The FSA finalized the amendment to the regulatory notice designating transactions and lending/borrowing to be excluded from the transactions subject to the regulations on "Financial Instruments Obligation Assumption Business" based on the "Order for Enforcement of the Financial Instrument and Exchange Act." The amendment extends the applicable period (date of expiration) of the current regulatory notice from December 31, 2019 to June 30, 2020.

Press Releases

(The following press releases are available in English)

Councils

December 27, 2019	Publication of Final Report by the Expert Study Group on Capital Markets in Japan of the Financial System Council

 

Publication

December 27, 2019	Publication of the 197th issue of the FSA’s journal, Access FSA

 

Others

December 27, 2019	Stewardship Code : 273 institutional investors have signed up to the Principles for Responsible Institutional Investors as of December 27, 2019
December 26, 2019	Updated statistics of money lending business
December 24, 2019	Blockchain Global Governance Conference [BG2C]
December 23, 2019	Use of AI in examining annual reports: summary of the proof-of-concept test results

 

(The following press releases are available in Japanese)

Policies

December 24, 2019

Publication of the "Policy Evaluation Implementation Plan for FY 2019" <Summary> The FSA published its "Policy Evaluation Implementation Plan for FY 2019". To ensure objectivity and improve the quality of evaluation, the plan has been reviewed by outside experts and their inputs are reflected in the plan. The FSA will conduct policy evaluation pursuant to the plan and the results will be published in due course.

 

Councils

December 24, 2019	Publication of the agenda and handouts of the sixth meeting of the "Expert Study Group on Capital Markets in Japan" of the Financial System Council. <Summary> The FSA published the agenda and handouts of the sixth meeting of the "Expert Study Group on Capital Markets in Japan" of the Financial System Council, which was held on December 25, 2019.
December 23, 2019	Publication of the agenda and handouts of the eighth meeting of the "Payments Council on Financial Innovation" <Summary> The FSA published the agenda and handouts of the eighth meeting of the "Payments Council on Financial Innovation," which was held on December 23, 2019.

 

Banks

December 26, 2019	Publication of a progress report on Business Revitalization Plans <Summary> The FSA published a report on the progress of business revitalization by Shinsei Bank Ltd. as of September 30, 2019, pursuant to the "Act on Emergency Measures for Early Strengthening of Financial Functions" and the "Deposit Insurance Act."
December 25, 2019	Publication of a statistical report on financing by financial institutions for enterprises utilizing the "Guidelines for Personal Guarantee Provided by Business Owners" <Summary> The FSA published a statistical report on financing by financial institutions for enterprises utilizing the "Guidelines for Personal Guarantee Provided by Business Owners." The report reflects the period between April 1 and September 30, 2019. (The report is regularly published to further promote the utilization of the Guidelines).
December 25, 2019	Authorization of the merger of The Tokushima Bank, Ltd. and The Taisho Bank, Ltd. <Summary> The FSA authorized the merger of The Tokushima Bank, Ltd. and The Taisho Bank, Ltd. pursuant to the "Banking Act."
December 24, 2019	Publication of special provisions which supplement the "Guidelines for Personal Guarantee Provided by Business Owners" in regard to the handling of personal guarantees at business owners' succession (1), and requests to certain financial institutions for proactive voluntary compliance with the said special provisions (2) <Summary> The FSA published special provisions which supplement the "Guidelines for Personal Guarantee Provided by Business Owners" in regard to business owners' personal guarantees to be handled by financial institutions, particularly at business owners' succession. The newly added special provisions are mainly aimed at ensuring the smooth succession of business owners in regard to their provision of personal guarantees to financial institutions, which set forth specific considerations for financial institutions in handling business owners' personal guarantees at their succession as well as corresponding responses to be taken by the financial institutions therein. The special provisions particularly set forth that financial institutions, in principle, should refrain from requesting personal guarantees from former owners or successors of businesses. In this regard, the FSA issued a request statement to certain financial institutions related associations for proactive voluntary compliance with the aforementioned special provisions.
December 23, 2019	Administrative action against The Tsuru Credit Cooperative (The Kanto Local Finance Bureau) <Summary> The Kanto Local Finance Bureau took an administrative action against The Tsuru Credit Cooperative, ordering the improvement of its business operations pursuant to the "Banking Act" as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to the "Act on Financial Businesses by Cooperative." This administrative action is based on the findings from the FSA’s on-site and off-site inspections.

 

Insurance

December 27, 2019

Administrative actions against three subsidiaries of Japan Post Group (The FSA and the Kanto Local Finance Bureau) <Summary> The FSA and the Kanto Local Finance Bureau jointly took administrative actions against three subsidiaries of Japan Post Group, namely, JAPAN POST INSURANCE Co.,Ltd., JAPAN POST Co., Ltd., and JAPAN POST HOLDINGS Co.,Ltd., ordering the partial suspension of the business operations of the first two subsidiaries from January 1 to March 31, 2020, and the improvement of the business operations of all three entities pursuant to the "Insurance Business Act." These administrative actions are based on the findings from the FSA's on-site and off-site inspections.

 

Others

December 27, 2019

New one-stop access to the information related to online administrative procedures <Summary> The FSA newly added a subpage to its website to provide users with one-stop access to the information related to online administrative procedures in making various applications to the FSA, pursuant to the "Act on Partial Revision of the Act on Utilization of Information and Communications Technology in Administrative Procedure, etc. to Improve the Convenience of Stakeholders Who Engage in Administrative Procedures, and to Ensure Simplification and Efficiency of Administrative Operations by Leveraging Information and Communications Technology" (provisional English Law title) which was enforced in May 2019. The new subpage shares information on advance-preparation for online applications, relevant user manuals, and FAQ.

December 24, 2019

Publication of the updated column titled "Candid Roundtable Talks on the Tsumitate NISA (Dollar-Cost Averaging NISA)" (provisional English title) on a subpage of the "NISA Official Promotion Webpage" with the third volume of a series of roundtable talks <Summary> The FSA published the updated column titled "Candid Roundtable Talks on the Tsumitate NISA (Dollar-Cost Averaging NISA)" (provisional English title) on a subpage of the "NISA Official Promotion Webpage," with the third volume of a series of roundtable talks. The column mainly shares informative quotes from a series of candid roundtable talks between four experienced individual investors and a non-investor (a married working mother with young children) who currently has second thoughts on investment in terms of building assets (for being overwhelmed by an abundance of dollar-cost averaging NISA account options offered by numerous financial institutions, which makes it hard to pick out one), wherein the experienced individual investors clarify/share their respective ideas on personal portfolio management in a practical manner from a child-rearing household perspective which may provide hesitant non-investors with some helpful insights into finding their own optimal portfolio management strategies for household asset building through control over savings and investment according to the respective life stages and objectives.