What’s New on the FSA Website

Week of January 6, 2020 - January 10, 2020

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

Public Comments

(The following public comments are available in Japanese)

January 10, 2020	Publication of the draft amendments to the "Cabinet Office Order on Definitions Under Article 2 of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act" <Summary> The FSA proposed the draft amendments to the "Cabinet Office Order on Definitions Under Article 2 of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA)." The proposal intends to newly add provisions that exclude certain acts that are authorized by the FSA’s Commissioner from the scope of financial instruments and exchange business so that financial instruments business operators, such as foreign investment managers, may continue business for a given period of time in Japan in cases where it becomes difficult for them to continue their operations outside Japan due to disasters or other events.
January 10, 2020	Publication of the draft amendments to the "Cabinet Office Order on Financial Instruments Business" <Summary> The FSA proposed the draft amendments to the "Cabinet Office Order on Financial Instruments Business." Financial instruments business operators are currently required to deliver annually a paper (booklet), "Document for Delivery Prior to Conclusion of Contract" prior to the conclusion of contracts with their customers, which contains information on risks, fees and such pertaining to the financial instruments and services they provide. The proposal mainly intends to expressly set forth that the delivery of the said Document to customers may also be carried out online (from the second delivery onwards), with a view to providing material information therein to customers in a more rational and comprehensive manner without compromising the statutory objective of delivering the Document.
January 10, 2020	Publication of the draft amendments to the "Cabinet Office Order on the System for Ensuring the Adequacy of Documents on Financial Calculation and of Other Information" <Summary> The FSA proposed the draft amendments to the "Cabinet Office Order on the System for Ensuring the Adequacy of Documents on Financial Calculation and of Other Information." Following the revision of the Audit Standards by the Business Accounting Council* in July 2018, which mainly updated the specifics of the matter paragraphs in the auditor's report pertaining to audits of corporate financial statements, the revision of the Standards for Internal Control were carried out by the said Council in December 2019, considering that an internal control audit report, which should in principle be combined with a financial statement audit report, needs to be revised accordingly. The proposal intends to reflect the revision of the Standards for Internal Control made by the said Council. * The Business Accounting Council is comprised of external experts and stakeholders, wherein the FSA serves as the secretariat.

Press Releases

(The following press release is available in English)

Others

January 10, 2020	Guidebook for Registration of Investment Management Business and Other Financial Instruments Businesses

 

(The following press releases are available in Japanese)

Banks

January 10, 2020

Symposiums for effective financial intermediation in region-based relationship banking for FY 2019 (April 2019 - March 2020) to be held from January 2020 onwards <Summary> The FSA announced the schedules of symposiums and various events for effective financial intermediation in region-based relationship banking for FY 2019 (April 2019 – March 2020) to be held from January 2020 onwards. (The dates of the respective symposiums and events that are left open will be finalized in due course.) Local Finance Bureaus (including Okinawa General Bureau of the Cabinet Office) have been holding symposiums since FY 2005 to stay updated with expertise and know-how on practices in region-based relationship banking.

 

Others

January 10, 2020

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 fourth 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 fourth 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.

January 8, 2020

Request for financial measures to deal with the outbreak of classical swine fever (CSF, a.k.a. hog cholera) in Okinawa Prefecture (The Okinawa General Bureau of the Cabinet Office) <Summary> The Okinawa General Bureau of the Cabinet Office issued the statement titled "Financial Measures in Response to the Report of the Classical Swine Fever (CSF, a.k.a. Hog Cholera)" to the relevant financial institutions in Okinawa Prefecture. The statement requests the financial institutions to cooperate with prefectural authorities and appropriately deal with CSF-affected parties such as pig farms considering their circumstances, such as by attentively responding to the needs of business management consultation and new loans or change of loan terms.