Press Conference by KATO Katsunobu, Minister of Finance and Minister of State for Financial Services

(Excerpt)

(Friday, August 29, 2025, 11:16 am to 11:28 am)
 

Q.

I would like to ask you about the request for organization and staff that the FSA is considering for fiscal 2026. In the midst of discussions to divide the Supervision Bureau into two, what is the purpose of the reorganization and what is the significance of the inclusion of the name “Asset Management” in the name of the new bureau? Also, could you tell us the background to the need for such organizational restructuring, taking into account the increase in personnel and changes in administrative issues?

A.

As you know, the FSA has jurisdiction over a wide range of financial services, including banking, securities, insurance, and asset management, with supervision primarily conducted by the Supervision Bureau. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of issues that the FSA must address, including scandals and irregularities involving some financial institutions, the realization of Japan as a Leading Asset Management Center, and a response to the transformation of financial services using new digital technologies such as generative AI. If all of these were placed within the jurisdiction of a single bureau, the Supervision Bureau, it would become a very large bureau. In that sense, we wanted to reorganize the organization from the perspective of the appropriate size of the bureau, and at the same time, from the perspective of promoting detailed, efficient, and effective supervisory operations. Specifically, we will establish a new bureau, the Asset Management and Insurance Supervision Bureau (tentative translation), and move some aspects of the current Strategy Development and Management Bureau to that bureau. This will be based on the following two viewpoints: firstly, the supervision of the asset management industry, which has become increasingly important in recent years, and the insurance industry, which is also an asset owner—these perspectives of asset management and asset ownership are interconnected. Therefore, we will strengthen coordination in these areas; and secondly, the need to focus on the supervision of the insurance industry to deal with scandals, restore trust, and ensure sound development. On the other hand, as for the so-called secretariat functions, we are thinking of establishing a new position for the Director-General for Secretariat (tentative translation), who will be responsible for policy coordination and personnel affairs. Meanwhile, the former Supervision Bureau will be reorganized as the Banking and Securities Supervision Bureau (tentative translation), since the banking and securities industries are handled by a single group. Based on the idea that the two new bureaus, the Asset Management and Insurance Supervision Bureau and the Banking and Securities Supervision Bureau, will firmly promote the supervision of such businesses, we will make requests for the organization and staff.