What’s New on the FSA Website

Week of May 7 - May 11, 2018

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

Press Conferences

May 10, 2018	Press Conference by the Minister for Financial Services (April 27, 2018) (Available in Japanese)
May 10, 2018	Press Conference by the Minister for Financial Services (April 24, 2018) (Available in Japanese)
May 10, 2018	Press Conference by the Minister for Financial Services (April 20, 2018) (Available in Japanese)
May 10, 2018	Press Conference by the Minister for Financial Services (April 19, 2018) (Available in Japanese)
May 10, 2018	Press Conference by the Minister for Financial Services (April 17, 2018) (Available in Japanese)
May 10, 2018	Press Conference by the Minister for Financial Services (April 13, 2018) (Available in Japanese)
May 10, 2018	Press Conference by the Minister for Financial Services (April 10, 2018) (Available in Japanese)
May 8, 2018	Press Conference by the Minister for Financial Services (April 6, 2018) Japanese version

Public Comments

(The following public comment is available in Japanese)

May 11, 2018

Publication of the draft amendments to the “Guidelines for Administrative Processes” regarding the defined contribution pension < Summary> The FSA proposed the draft amendments to the “Guidelines for Administrative Processes” regarding the defined contribution (DC) pension. The proposal aims to reflect the (draft) amendments to the DC pension related Orders that have been proposed by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) on May 11, 2018, namely, the “Order for Enforcement of the Defined Contribution Pension Act (the Order of the MHLW No.175, 2001),” the “Defined Contribution Pension Plan System – MHLW Director General Notification No. 213, 2001” (provisional English title), and the “Order on Defined Contribution Pension Plan Operational Management Institution (the Order of the Cabinet and the MHLW No.6, 2001).” The last of the aforementioned Orders is subject to the joint control of the MHLW and the FSA.

May 8, 2018

Public Consultation on the revision of the Audit Standards (Exposure Draft)  < Summary> The Audit Committee of the Business Accounting Council (which is comprised of external experts and stakeholders, wherein the FSA serves as the secretariat) has published the revision of the Audit Standards (Exposure Draft), which requires “Key Audit Matters” in the independent auditor’s reports, and it has invited public comments on the revision.

Press Releases

(The following press releases are available in English)

International 

May 7, 2018	2018 Roundtable on Insurance and Retirement Saving in Asia
May 7, 2018	BIS Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published a report  “Implementation monitoring of PFMI: follow-up Level 3 assessment of CCPs’ recovery planning, coverage of financial resources and liquidity stress testing”

Councils

May 8, 2018	The sixth meeting of the Working Group on Corporate Disclosure of the Financial System Council

Others

May 11, 2018	Updated list of issuers of gift certificates in repayment procedures based on the “Payment Services Act”

(The following press releases are available in Japanese)

Councils

May 10, 2018	Publication of the agenda and handouts of the sixth meeting of the “Working Group on Corporate Disclosure” of the Financial System Council < Summary> The FSA published the agenda and handouts of the sixth meeting of the “Working Group on Corporate Disclosure” of the Financial System Council, which was held on May 11, 2018.

Banks

May 10, 2018

License granted to Leopalace Trust Co., Ltd. to conduct investment-based trust business  < Summary> The FSA granted a license to Leopalace Trust Co., Ltd. to conduct investment-based trust business pursuant to the “Trust Business Act.”

May 9, 2018

Publication of an outline of the FSA’s directions in terms of reviewing financial regulations in response to evolving financial environment  < Summary> The FSA’s Strategic Directions and Priorities 2017-2018 set out that the FSA would check and review financial regulations, namely, in response to the issues regarding the bank agency service system and bank branch system and to the needs in the FinTech Age. In this regard, the FSA published an outline of its directions in terms of reviewing financial regulations based on deregulation requests from stakeholders.

Securities

April 25, 2018

Revision of the FSA regulatory notice concerning the designation of related corporations of credit rating agencies (group-based designation concerning explanatory items of unregistered ratings)  < Summary> The FSA updated the list of designated credit rating agencies (unregistered credit rating agencies which belong to the same group of registered credit rating agencies and fulfill the requirements). The duty of securities companies to explain about the certain items for customers is reduced when securities companies use credit ratings provided by the agencies which are on the list.

Others

May 11, 2018	Activities of the FSA’s Counseling Office for Financial Services Users between January 1 and March 31, 2018  < Summary> The FSA’s Counseling Office for Financial Services Users offers a counseling service to respond to inquiries and comments from financial services users. Between January 1 and March 31, 2018, the counseling office received 11,516 inquiries and comments, a major increase from 9,055 cases in the previous quarter (between October 1 and December 31, 2017).
May 11, 2018	Outline of the “Reports on the Measures for the resolution of failed financial institutions” delivered by the Minister of State for Financial Services, Taro Aso, in the Committee on Financial Affairs of the House of Representatives  < Summary> The Minister of State for Financial Services, Taro Aso, delivered an outline of the “Reports on the Measures for the resolution of failed financial institutions” in the Committee on Financial Affairs of the House of Representatives. The reports, addressing two semiannual periods extending from October 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017, and from April 1, 2017 to September 30, 2017, had been submitted to the Diet respectively on June 20, 2017 and December 8, 2017, pursuant to the “Act on Emergency Measures for the Revitalization of the Financial Functions.”
May 10, 2018	Warnings about entities that are operating money lending businesses without proper registration  < 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.
May 8, 2018	Public Consultation on the “Council of Experts on Managing Settlement Risks of Foreign Exchange (FX) Transactions for Over-the-Counter (OTC) FX Brokers”  < Summary> As part of the initiatives/efforts to develop the safety net for the financial and capital market, the “Council of Experts on Managing Settlement Risks of Foreign Exchange (FX) Transactions for Over-the-Counter (OTC) FX Brokers” (which is comprised of academic experts and stakeholders of the OTC FX trading market, wherein the FSA serves as the secretariat) is assessing whether the current management of settlement risks in terms of OTC FX transactions is fully ensured by the respective brokers. Based on what the Council has discussed so far in this context, and from the perspective of furthering the discussion by involving a wide range of service users inclusive of individual investors, the Council has invited public comments on the current management of settlement risks for OTC FX brokers.
May 7, 2018	The third project selected for “FinTech PoC (Proof-of-Concept) Hub”  < Summary> The FSA selected the third PoC project which fulfilled all requirements to provide its support through “FinTech PoC Hub.” (This PoC project is related to the “Comprehensive Guidelines for Supervision of Major Banks, etc.,” the “Comprehensive Guidelines for Supervision of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Regional Financial Institutions” and the “Comprehensive Guidelines for Supervision of Financial Instruments Business Operators”).