FSA Weekly Review No.510 October 20, 2022

FSA Weekly Review No.510: October 20, 2022

What’s New on the FSA Website

Week of October 7, 2022 - October 13, 2022

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

Public Comments

October 7, 2022	Publication of the finalized amendments to the "Guidelines for Administrative Processes" regarding prepaid payment instruments issuers and funds transfer service providers after public consultation <Summary> The FSA finalized the amendments to the "Guidelines for Administrative Processes" regarding prepaid payment instruments issuers and funds transfer service providers after public consultation. The amendments mainly set forth the following in the Guidelines: - Supervisory measures to be taken for funds transfer service providers in response to the expansion of eligibility for participation in the Zengin System (data telecommunication system for all banks in Japan) - Measures to be taken against entities that are operating financial instruments businesses without proper registration (those who engage in exchange transactions without a license under the "Banking Act" or registration as a funds transfer service provider under the "Payment Services Act"). The amendments took effect on October 7, 2022. The original press release is available in Japanese at the following URL. https://www.fsa.go.jp/news/r4/sonota/20221007/20221007.html

October 7, 2022

Publication of the finalized amendments to the "Guidelines for Administrative Processes" regarding prepaid payment instruments issuers and funds transfer service providers after public consultation
<Summary>
The FSA finalized the amendments to the "Guidelines for Administrative Processes" regarding prepaid payment instruments issuers and funds transfer service providers after public consultation.
The amendments mainly set forth the following in the Guidelines:

- Supervisory measures to be taken for funds transfer service providers in response to the expansion of eligibility for participation in the Zengin System (data telecommunication system for all banks in Japan)

- Measures to be taken against entities that are operating financial instruments businesses without proper registration (those who engage in exchange transactions without a license under the "Banking Act" or registration as a funds transfer service provider under the "Payment Services Act").
The amendments took effect on October 7, 2022.

The original press release is available in Japanese at the following URL.
https://www.fsa.go.jp/news/r4/sonota/20221007/20221007.html open new window

Press Releases

Policies

October 7, 2022	Update on Progress toward Further Efficiency and Transparency in the Screening Procedures for Licensing and Registration of Financial Businesses

Publication

October 7, 2022	Publication of the English version of the "Anti-Money Laundering, Counter Financing of Terrorism, and Counter-Proliferation Financing Current Status and Challenges"

Councils

October 13, 2022	Publication of the agenda and handouts of the 21st meeting of the "Working Group on Capital Market Regulations" (provisional English title) of the Financial System Council <Summary> The FSA published the agenda and handouts of the 21st meeting of the "Working Group on Capital Market Regulations" (provisional English title) of the Financial System Council, which was held on October 14, 2022. The working group members mainly discussed the smooth facilitation of growth funding and the improvement of the functioning of financial market infrastructures. The original press release is available in Japanese at the following URL. https://www.fsa.go.jp/singi/singi_kinyu/market-system/siryou/20221014.html
October 12, 2022	Publication of the agenda and handouts of the 22nd meeting of the Internal Control Committee of the Business Accounting Council <Summary> The FSA published the agenda and handouts of the 22nd meeting of the Internal Control Committee of the Business Accounting Council, which was held on October 13, 2022. The secretariat gave a briefing mainly on the current status of the internal control reporting system and the progress of international discussions, followed by a discussion among the committee members. The original press release is available in Japanese at the following URL. https://www.fsa.go.jp/singi/singi_kigyou/siryou/naibu/20221013.html
October 12, 2022	Publication of the agenda and handouts of the first meeting of the "Working Group on Financial Institutions' Efforts towards the Decarbonization of the Economy" <Summary> The FSA published the agenda and handouts of the first meeting of the "Working Group on Financial Institutions' Efforts towards the Decarbonization of the Economy," which was held on October 13, 2022. A briefing on the current "Supervisory Guidance on Climate-related Risk Management and Client Engagement" published in July 2022 and international trends on climate change preparedness and response was given, whereby the working members discussed the respective topics thereof. The original press release is available in Japanese at the following URL. https://www.fsa.go.jp/singi/decarbonization/siryou/20221013.html

Banks

October 11, 2022	Authorization granted to SBI Regional Bank Holdings, Co., Ltd. to become a bank holding company by having banks as its subsidiaries <Summary> The FSA granted authorization to SBI Regional Bank Holdings, Co., Ltd. to become a bank holding company, by having banks* as its subsidiaries, pursuant to the "Banking Act." * Shinsei Bank, Limited and Shinsei Trust & Banking Co., Ltd. The original press release is available in Japanese at the following URL. https://www.fsa.go.jp/news/r4/ginkou/20221007/20221007.html

October 11, 2022

Authorization granted to SBI Regional Bank Holdings, Co., Ltd. to become a bank holding company by having banks as its subsidiaries
<Summary>
The FSA granted authorization to SBI Regional Bank Holdings, Co., Ltd. to become a bank holding company, by having banks* as its subsidiaries, pursuant to the "Banking Act."

* Shinsei Bank, Limited and Shinsei Trust & Banking Co., Ltd.

The original press release is available in Japanese at the following URL.
https://www.fsa.go.jp/news/r4/ginkou/20221007/20221007.html open new window

Securities

October 7, 2022	Administrative actions against SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. <Summary> The FSA took administrative actions against SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. pursuant to the "Financial Instruments and Exchange Act" (hereinafter referred to as the "FIEA"). The former was ordered to partially suspend its business operations* from October 7, 2022, to January 6, 2023, and improve its business operations, whereas the latter was ordered to take improvement measures to ensure the sound and appropriate business conduct of SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. These administrative actions were taken in response to the recommendation (as of September 28, 2022) from the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission for an administrative action against SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., which was found to have been in violation of the FIEA, based on onsite inspection. * The business operations suspended are services associated with new solicitation, entrusted/commissioned duties, and transactions, in regard to "block offer" [block trading] (except for certain services that are exempted from suspension of operations by the FSA on a case-by-case basis). The original press release is available in Japanese at the following URL. https://www.fsa.go.jp/news/r4/shouken/20221007/20221007.html

October 7, 2022

Administrative actions against SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc.
<Summary>
The FSA took administrative actions against SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. pursuant to the "Financial Instruments and Exchange Act" (hereinafter referred to as the "FIEA"). The former was ordered to partially suspend its business operations* from October 7, 2022, to January 6, 2023, and improve its business operations, whereas the latter was ordered to take improvement measures to ensure the sound and appropriate business conduct of SMBC Nikko Securities Inc.
These administrative actions were taken in response to the recommendation (as of September 28, 2022) from the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission for an administrative action against SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., which was found to have been in violation of the FIEA, based on onsite inspection.

* The business operations suspended are services associated with new solicitation, entrusted/commissioned duties, and transactions, in regard to "block offer" [block trading] (except for certain services that are exempted from suspension of operations by the FSA on a case-by-case basis).

The original press release is available in Japanese at the following URL.
https://www.fsa.go.jp/news/r4/shouken/20221007/20221007.html open new window

Others

October 11, 2022	Stewardship Code : 322 institutional investors have signed up to the Principles for Responsible Institutional Investors as of September 30, 2022
October 11, 2022	The FSA's initiatives for the reduction of food loss as well as food donation through the effective use of a portion of the government's emergency food reserves <Summary> From the perspective of reducing food loss and supporting people in need, the FSA has been engaging in food donation to food bank (hunger-relief) organizations and other outreach groups since August 2021, by making effective use of a portion of food reserves (mainly non-perishable foods, such as canned goods) that are originally kept for disaster-relief/emergency by the government. The FSA has called for applications for its sixth offering of a portion of its emergency food reserves subsequent to the fifth offering made in June 2022. (The offering is for residents in Japan). The original press release is available in Japanese at the following URL. https://www.fsa.go.jp/choutatu/choutatu_j/choutatsu_saigaisyokuhin.html
October 7, 2022	Publication of the list of financial institutions satisfying the certain fill-in requirements of the designated reporting format pertaining to the status of their initiatives and efforts that have been taken so far and are to be taken based on the "Principles for Customer-Oriented Business Conduct" (as of the end of June 2022), and the publication of an analysis report on the common KPIs comparable across investment trust distributors reported by the respective financial institutions on the said list as of the end of March 2022) <Summary> The FSA updated the list of financial institutions satisfying the certain fill-in requirements of the designated reporting format pertaining to the status of their initiatives and efforts that have been taken so far and are to be taken based on the "Principles for Customer-Oriented Business Conduct" as of the end of June 2022, in order to visualize financial institutions' initiatives and efforts. Following the modification to the reporting formats and other applicable documents made after the publication of the list on September 9, 2022, the list was updated with the newly added financial institutions satisfying the fill-in requirements of the new reporting formats and other applicable documents. The FSA aims at encouraging financial institutions to further visualize their customer-oriented business conduct by requesting them to meet the fill-in requirements of the format to report their initiatives and efforts based on the said Principles. The FSA also published an updated trend analysis report on the common KPIs comparable across investment trust distributors reported by the respective financial institutions as of the end of March 2022. The original press release is available in Japanese at the following URL. https://www.fsa.go.jp/news/r4/kokyakuhoni/20221007/fd_20221007.html
October 7, 2022	Updated statistics of money lending business

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