Japanese
(Provisional Translation)
April 6, 2020
Financial Services Agency
（Japanese version: published March 16, 2020)

Cabinet Office Ordinance Concerning Partial Revision of Regulation for Enforcement of the Money Lending Business Act

The “Cabinet Office Ordinance for Partial Revisions of Regulation for Enforcement of the Money Lending Business Act (the “Ordinance”)” was issued with immediate effect. An overview of the revision is provided below.

1. Purpose

  Regulations under the Money Lending Business Act (the “Act”) are intended to prevent the emergence of heavy debtors and to protect those who need funds. Regulation for Enforcement of the Act is hereby revised in part to eliminate cases wherein an individual is unable to borrow funds from money lenders, because the individual is unable to follow the required legal and regulatory procedures, such as the preparation of specified documents, due to coronavirus infection, etc., even if the requested loan does not exceed the individual’s repayment capacity.

2. Overview

(1) Giving more flexibility to procedures for borrowing “expenses that are found to be urgently necessary in light of socially accepted conventions” which are exempt from the statutory total lending limit requirements

(2) Giving more flexibility to procedures for borrowing by individual business owners who are exempt from the statutory total lending limit requirements

(3) Giving more flexibility to borrowing procedures for revolving credit loans (cashing) which are subject to the statutory lending limit

(4) Giving more flexibility to borrowing procedures in cases where a borrower’s annual income is combined with that of the borrower’s spouse who is exempted from the statutory total lending limit requirements


See below for detailed information.

  • Overview: (PDFAttachment 1)
  • Cabinet Office Ordinance Concerning Partial Revision of Regulation for Enforcement of the Money Lending Business Act (PDFAttachment 2) (Available in Japanese)

  Note that public comment procedure is not implemented for this cabinet office ordinance, as it falls under the circumstance specified in Article 39 (4)(i) of the Administrative Procedure Act, “when it would be difficult to follow the procedures because the urgent establishment of Administrative Orders, etc., are necessary for the public interest.”

(Reference) Reference materials for appropriately responding to the funding needs of coronavirus patients, etc.

  • Partial Revision of Regulation for Enforcement of the Money Lending Business Act Based on the Coronavirus Outbreak (Request issued to Japan Financial Services Association) (PDFAttachment 3)
  • Provisions of Regulation for Enforcement of the Money Lending Business Act Regarding Loans Exempted from the Maximum Lending Limits (PDFAttachment 4)

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