Financial Services AgencyFSA Weekly Review No.400

July 16, 2020

What’s New on the FSA Website

Week of July 6, 2020 - July 10, 2020

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

Public Comments

(The following public comment is available in Japanese)

July 10, 2020 Publication of the finalized amendments to the FSA’s regulatory notice concerning the "designated IFRSs"open new window
<Summary>
The FSA finalized the amendments to the regulatory notice concerning the "designated IFRSs" stipulated in the "Regulation for Terminology, Forms and Preparation of Consolidated Financial Statements." The amendments define the international accounting standards that have been published through May 31, 2020, by the IASB (International Accounting Standards Board) as "designated international accounting standards" set forth under Article 93 of the Regulation on Consolidated Financial Statements. The amendments have been enforced since July 10, 2020.

Press Releases

(The following press release is available in English)

Others

July 9, 2020 FSA updated Information on COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus)

 

(The following press releases are available in Japanese)

Securities

July 10, 2020 Rescission of an order to impose an administrative penalty charge against Stats Investment Management Co., Ltd. for committing insider trading regarding stocks of INPEX CORPORATIONopen new window
<Summary>
The FSA’s order to impose an administrative penalty charge against Stats Investment Management Co., Ltd., which was imposed in 2014 for committing insider trading regarding stocks of INPEX CORPORATION by using information received from an employee of a contract negotiator with INPEX CORPORATION was rescinded by the judgement of the court.
July 10, 2020 Partial rescission of an order to impose an administrative penalty charge against J-LEASE CO.,LTD. for making false statements in its securities reportsopen new window
<Summary>
Partial rescission of the FSA’s order* to impose an administrative penalty charge against J-LEASE CO.,LTD. for making false statements in its securities reports has become final and binding.

* The FSA’s order was originally imposed on March 30, 2020.

 

Others

July 10, 2020 New one-stop access to the disaster response-related information pertaining to the heavy rain from July 3, 2020open new window
<Summary>
The FSA newly added a subpage to its website to provide one-stop access to the disaster response related information pertaining to the heavy rain from July 3, 2020. The subpage provides useful information for the disaster-affected victims, such as the points of contact for consultations regarding general disaster response-related inquiries accepted by the FSA, and regarding insurance policy-related inquiries accepted by the respective insurance associations, as well as the guideline for the disaster-affected victims’ debt consolidation, inclusive of the information on the mitigation of housing/business loan repayment terms. The subpage was last updated on July 14, 2020.
July 10, 2020 Publication of the "Order to Amend the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds"open new window
<Summary>
The National Police Agency (NPA), the FSA and other competent administrative agencies have published the "Order to Amend the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds" (the NPA has the main jurisdiction over the Order). The Order mainly provides the following updates:
  1. to grant an exemption to the obligation of verification at the time of transaction when a transaction pertains to donation. This exemption is limited to a cash remittance that is not more than two million yen for the purpose of making a disaster relief donation in respect to the heavy rain from July 3, 2020 to a donation account that is opened mainly to accept disaster relief donations related to the heavy rain from July 3, 2020.
  2. to grant an exemption to the methods of verification of customer identification data of the disaster-affected victims (in terms of receiving declared identification data from the disaster-affected victims). This exemption temporarily allows financial institutions to verify disaster-affected clients’ identities based on the clients’ self-declared certification if the clients’ identification documents were lost in the wake of the disaster caused by the heavy rain from July 3, 2020.
The aforementioned updates have been enforced since July 10, 2020.
July 10, 2020 Publication of the "Cabinet Office Order to Amend the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Money Lending Business Act"open new window
<Summary>
The FSA has published the "Cabinet Office Order to Amend the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Money Lending Business Act." In response to the report of the heavy rain from July 3, 2020, the Order provides the following mitigation measures when financial institutions provide loans for the disaster-affected victims.
  1. to provide flexibility in loan applications for the "expenses that are found to be urgently necessary in light of socially accepted conventions" which are exempt from statutory total lending limit requirements
  2. to provide flexibility in loan applications for individual business owners which are exempt from the statutory total lending limit requirements
  3. to provide flexibility in loan applications for cash advances (cashing) under revolving credit loans (financing within the scope of statutory lending limits)
  4. to provide flexibility in loan applications for borrowers whose annual incomes are aggregated by including those of their spouses which are exempt from the statutory total lending limit requirements
The Cabinet Office Order has been enforced since July 10, 2020.
July 10, 2020 New one-stop access to the information on the support systems for the victims of the disaster caused by the heavy rain from July 3, 2020 with respect to potential multiple debt problems triggered by the disasteropen new window
<Summary>
The FSA newly added a subpage to its website to provide one-stop access to the information on the support systems for the victims of the disaster caused by the heavy rain from July 3, 2020 with respect to potential multiple debt problems triggered by the disaster. (The term "victims" in this context means either individuals or corporate entities, including small- and medium-sized enterprises). The subpage collectively gathers information provided by the national government (inclusive of METI [Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry]), local governments, and relevant organizations mainly on the support systems regarding disaster recovery loans and the mitigation of loan repayment terms, as well as points of contact for consultations.
July 10, 2020 Warning against (potential) charity scams in the wake of the disaster caused by the heavy rain from July 3, 2020open new window
<Summary>
The FSA issued a warning against (potential) disaster-relief charity scams in the wake of the disaster caused by the heavy rain from July 3, 2020. Charity scams tend to emerge in the wake of disasters, where scammers take advantage of people’s kindness, stealing money and personal information by impersonating representatives of genuine charitable entities or public institutions. The FSA urges people to be cautious of such fraudulent attempts, encouraging people to report to (and/or consult with) the authorities (such as the police or the FSA’s Counseling Office for Financial Services Users) whenever any sign of fraudulence is detected. The FSA also urges people to do research, prior to making donations, to ensure that their donations will reach their intended destination and be used in good faith.
July 10, 2020 Extension of the filing due dates of annual securities reports, internal control reports, quarterly securities reports, and semiannual securities reports in case of business impediments caused by the heavy rain from July 3, 2020open new window
<Summary>
The FSA has announced that disaster-affected corporations may extend the filing due dates of their annual securities reports, internal control reports, quarterly securities reports, and semiannual securities reports if business impediments have been caused by the heavy rain from July 3, 2020, pursuant to the enforcement of the "Cabinet Order on the Specific Extraordinary Disaster Caused by the Heavy Rain from July 3, 2020 to Designate Measures to be Applied Thereto" (provisional English Order title). Further inquiries including concerns on business impediments caused by the heavy rain from July 3, 2020 are being accepted by the respective competent local finance bureaus and local finance branch bureaus. In this respect, a disaster-affected corporation which has been unwittingly forced to miss the statutory deadline for filing the reports due to force majeure shall not be held liable administratively or criminally for the failure of filing, if the corporation files the said reports by October 31, 2020.
July 10, 2020 Publication of the updated report on trends and issues regarding compliance risk management at financial institutionsopen new window
<Summary>
The FSA published the updated report on trends and issues regarding compliance risk management at financial institutions subsequent to the previous report published in June 2019, the previous program year. The report includes cases ascertained by the FSA through its dialogues with managements of financial institutions, which reflect emerging trends and issues.
July 10, 2020 Establishment of a phone line for "Free Telephone Consultation Service for the Victims of the Disaster Caused by the Heavy Rain from July 3, 2020"open new window
<Summary>
In response to the disaster caused by the heavy rain from July 3, 2020, the FSA’s Counseling Office for Financial Service Users has established a phone line for "Free Telephone Consultation Service for the Victims of the Disaster Caused by the Heavy Rain from July 3, 2020" mainly to respond to inquiries for the disaster-related points of contacts of the respective financial institutions and inquiries regarding transactions with financial institutions.
Phone number: 0120-156811 (available only in Japanese)
+81-3-5251-6813 (by VoIP phone, available only in Japanese)
(Office hours: Weekdays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (JST).)
July 9, 2020 Requests for financial measures to deal with disasters caused by the heavy rain from July 3, 2020 (The Kyushu Local Finance Bureau, the Fukuoka Local Finance Branch Bureau, the Kanto Local Finance Bureau, and the Tokai Local Finance Bureau)open new window
<Summary>
On the respective dates of July 4, 7, and 8, the Kyushu Local Finance Bureau alongside the Bank of Japan’s Kumamoto Branch and Kagoshima Branch; the Fukuoka Local Finance Branch Bureau alongside the Bank of Japan’s Fukuoka Branch and Kitakyushu Branch; the Kanto Local Finance Bureau and the Bank of Japan’s Matsumoto Branch; the Tokai Local Finance Bureau and the Bank of Japan’s Nagoya Branch; and the Kyushu Local Finance Bureau and the Bank of Japan’s Oita Branch respectively issued joint statements titled "Financial Measures to Deal with Disasters Caused by the Heavy Rain from July 3, 2020" to the relevant institutions.
The said statements request financial institutions in the respective prefectures* to appropriately deal with victims of the disaster considering their circumstances, such as by making the repayment of deposits flexible.

* Prefectures of Kumamoto, Kagoshima, Fukuoka, Nagano, Gifu, and Oita are currently subject to the "Disaster Relief Act." If more areas in those prefectures become subject to the said Act, financial institutions in the respective prefectures are requested to take measures in the same manner as above accordingly.
July 8, 2020 Warnings about entities that are operating money lending businesses without proper registrationopen new window
<Summary>
The FSA (Local Finance Bureaus) updated warnings about entities that are operating money lending businesses without proper registration. The warnings include the updated list of entities that misrepresent their registration using fictitious or stolen registration numbers.
July 7, 2020 Publication of the updated column entitled "Consideration of Key Components of Financial Literacy for Purchasing Financial Instruments (draft) " (provisional English titles) on the subpage of the "NISA Official Promotion Webpage"open new window
<Summary>
The FSA published the updated column entitled "Consideration of Key Components of Financial Literacy for Purchasing Financial Instruments (draft)" (vol.4) (provisional English titles) on the subpage of the "NISA Official Promotion Webpage"

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