Minister Watanabe received the report by the first Subcommittee of the Sectional Committee on Financial System of the Financial System Council. (December 18)

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Photograph Gallery

In this corner, we post photographs of the Minister, the Senior Vice Minister, the Parliamentary Secretary and FSA officials at work in meetings, conferences and other events.

Senior Vice Minister Yamamoto exchanged views with debt counselors at the "Country-wide Consultation Week for Multiple Debtors Campaign" at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's consumer affairs center. (December 4)	Senior Vice Minister Yamamoto made an address at the "Meeting for Exchange of Views for Smooth Financing of Small-and Medium-sized Enterprises". (December 10)

Statements, Speeches & Material

In this corner, we post statements and speeches made by the Minister, the Senior Vice Minister, the Parliamentary Secretary and FSA officials, as well as presentation material they used.

Speeches

December 6, 2007

''The Global Financial Market Turmoil and its Policy Implications'' Speech by Takafumi Sato, Commissioner of the Financial Services Agency at the EU Financial Counsellors Meeting, Tokyo

[Featured]

On December 21, 2007, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) published the "Plan for Strengthening the Competitiveness of Japan's Financial and Capital Markets" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan").

In "Economic and Fiscal Reform 2007" (cabinet decision on June 19, 2007) , the FSA was instructed to put together a plan for strengthening the competitiveness of Japan's financial and capital markets by the end of 2007 and it was decided that the plan would be promoted by the entire government. In response to this decision, the FSA has conducted an extensive study on the measures necessary for strengthening the competitiveness of Japan's markets.

The Plan incorporates specific measures to strengthen competitiveness in the following four policy areas:

1. Creating reliable and vibrant markets;
2. Putting in place a business environment that vitalizes the financial services industry and promotes competition;
3. Improving the regulatory environment ("better regulation"); and
4. Improving the broader environment surrounding the markets.

The key points of the Plan regarding the above four policy areas are as follows:

(1) Creating reliable and vibrant markets

In order to create a "marketplace" for financial transactions, the Plan incorporates measures to put in place a market infrastructure that enhances diversity in financial services and raises user benefits - for example, by enabling diversified financial instruments to be traded on exchanges - while ensuring market fairness and transparency by, for example, making the administrative monetary penalty system more effective against market misconduct under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.

(2) Putting in place a business environment that vitalizes the financial services industry and promotes competition

In order to foster a favorable environment for market players engaged in financial transactions, the Plan incorporates measures to put in place a system for controlling conflicts of interest and put in place an institutional framework that can meet the needs of the times by, for example, revamping the firewall regulations among banking, securities and insurance businesses.

(3) Improving the regulatory environment ("better regulation")

It has been seriously recognized that the regulatory environment is a crucial determinant of the strength and competitiveness of the financial and capital markets. Therefore, the Plan incorporates measures to enhance the effectiveness, efficiency and transparency of financial regulation by improving the FSA's supervisory method, so as to draw out more vitality of the markets.

(4) Improving the broader environment surrounding the markets

The plan incorporates measures not only to improve the financial and market systems, but also to upgrade the environment surrounding the markets by, for example, the development of an environment favorable to the nurturing and pooling of human resources with expertise in finance.

The FSA is determined to implement the measures incorporated in the Plan in a timely manner, with a view to constructing attractive and high-quality financial and capital markets, to which capital, information and human resources flow in from within and outside Japan.

Basic concepts of the Plan for Strengthening the Competitiveness of Japan's Financial and Capital Markets

Outline of the Plan

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