What’s New on the FSA Website

Week of September 10 - September 14, 2018

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

Press Releases

(The following press releases are available in English)

International 

September 10, 2018	The Second Yangon Stock Exchange Expo Keynote Speech by State Minister Ochi
September 10, 2018	Submission of “Progress Report of Myanmar’s Capital Market Activation Support Plan” to Ministry of Planning and Finance of Myanmar

Publication

September 11, 2018	Publication of the 181th issue of the FSA’s monthly journal, Access FSA

Others

September 13, 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)

Banks

September 13, 2018	Approval granted to The Hokkoku Bank, Ltd. for its engagement in trust business < Summary> The FSA granted approval to The Hokkoku Bank, Ltd. for its engagement in trust business pursuant to the “Act on Engagement in Trust Business by a Financial Institution.”

Others

September 14, 2018	New one-stop access to the information on the support systems for the victims of the disaster caused by Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake in 2018 with respect to potential multiple-debt problems triggered by the disaster < Summary> The FSA newly added a subpage to its website to provide one-stop access to the information on the support systems for the victims of the disaster caused by Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake in 2018 with respect to potential multiple-debt problems triggered by the disaster. The subpage collectively gathers information provided by the national government, local governments, and relevant organizations mainly on the support systems regarding support grants for reconstructing livelihoods of the disaster-affected victims, disaster recovery loans, and the mitigation of loan repayment terms, as well as points of contact for consultations.
September 14, 2018	Publication of the “Cabinet Office Order to Amend the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Money Lending Business Act” < Summary> The FSA has published the “Cabinet Office Order to Amend the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Money Lending Business Act.” In response to the disaster caused by Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake in 2018, the Order provides the following mitigation measures when financial institutions provide loans for the disaster-affected victims. (1)to provide flexibility in loan applications for the “expenses that are found to be urgently necessary in light of socially accepted conventions” which are exempt from statutory total lending limit requirements (2)to provide flexibility in loan applications for individual business owners which are exempt from the statutory total lending limit requirements (3)to provide flexibility in loan applications for cash advances (cashing) under revolving credit loans (financing within the scope of statutory lending limits) (4)to provide flexibility in loan applications for borrowers whose annual incomes are aggregated by including those of their spouses which are exempt from the statutory total lending limit requirements The Order was enforced on September 14, 2018.
September 14, 2018	Publication of the “Order to Amend the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds” < Summary> The National Police Agency (NPA), the FSA and other competent administrative agencies have published the “Order to Amend the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds.” In response to the disaster caused by Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake in 2018, the updates grant financial institutions the following mitigation measures with respect to the obligation of verification at the time of transaction stipulated in the “Ordinance for Enforcement of the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds.” (1)Mitigation of the obligation of verification at the time of transaction when a transaction pertains to donation (2)Mitigation of methods of verification of customer identification data of the disaster-affected victims (in terms of receiving declared identification data from the disaster-affected victims) The Order was enforced on September 14, 2018.
September 12, 2018	Publication of the agenda and handouts of the fifth meeting of the “Study Group on the Virtual Currency Exchange Services” < Summary> The FSA published the agenda and handouts of the fifth meeting of the “Study Group on the Virtual Currency Exchange Services,” which was held on September 12, 2018.
September 12, 2018	New one-stop access to the disaster response-related information pertaining to Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake in 2018 < Summary> The FSA newly added a subpage to its website to provide one-stop access to the disaster response related information pertaining to Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake in 2018. The subpage provides useful information for the disaster-affected victims, such as the points of contact for consultations regarding general disaster response-related inquiries accepted by the FSA, and regarding insurance policy-related inquiries accepted by the respective insurance associations, as well as the guideline for the disaster-affected victims’ debt consolidation, inclusive of the information on the mitigation of housing/business loan repayment terms.
September 12&14, 2018	Establishment of common phone lines for “Free Telephone Consultation Service for the Victims of the Disaster Caused by Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake in 2018” and “Free Telephone Consultation Service for the Victims of the Disaster Caused by Typhoon No. 21 in 2018” < Summary> In response to the disasters caused by Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake in 2018 and Typhoon No.21 in 2018, the FSA’s Counseling Office for Financial Service Users has established common phone lines for “Free Telephone Consultation Service for the Victims of the Disaster Caused by Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake in 2018” and “Free Telephone Consultation Service for the Victims of the Disaster Caused by Typhoon No. 21 in 2018” mainly to respond to inquiries for the disaster-related points of contacts of the respective financial institutions and inquiries regarding transactions with financial institutions. Phone number: 0120-156811 (available only in Japanese)              +81-3-5251-6813 (by VoIP phone, available only in Japanese) (Office hours: Weekdays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (JST).)
September 11, 2018	Request for financial measures to deal with the outbreak of classical swine fever (hog cholera) in Gifu Prefecture (The Tokai Local Finance Bureau) < Summary> The Tokai Local Finance Bureau issued the statement titled “Financial Measures in Response to the Report of the Classical Swine Fever (Hog Cholera)” to the relevant financial institutions in Gifu Prefecture. The statement requests the financial institutions to cooperate with prefectural authorities and appropriately deal with classical swine fever (hog cholera)-affected parties such as pig farms considering their circumstances, such as by attentively responding to the needs of business management consultation and new loans or change of loan terms.
September 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.