What’s New on the FSA Website

Week of February 4, 2019 - February 8, 2019

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

Press Conferences

February ４, 2019	Press Conference by the Minister for Financial Services (January 29, 2019) Japanese version

Press Releases

(The following press releases are available in English)

Others

February ６, 2019	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

February 8, 2019	Publication of an outline of the financial institutions’ policies on cooperation and collaboration with electronic settlement agents  < Summary> Financial institutions have prepared and published their respective policies on cooperation and collaboration with electronic settlement agents by March 1, 2018 pursuant to Article 10 (1) of the supplementary provisions of the “Act for Partial Revision of the Banking Act (Act No. 49 of 2017)” which stipulates that financial institutions shall prepare and disclose their basic policies regarding their cooperation and collaboration with electronic settlement agents within nine months from the date of promulgation of the Act (promulgation date: June 2, 2017). In this regard, on February 8, 2019, the FSA published a summary of the respective financial institutions’ current implementation status (as of December 28, 2018) based on their respective policies on cooperation and collaboration with electronic settlement agents, particularly in terms of the API (Application Programming Interface) development.
February 7, 2019	Warning against bank cash card scams by entities impersonating the Japanese Bank Association  < Summary> The FSA issued a warning against bank cash card scams by entities impersonating the Japanese Bank Association. The impersonators are reported to be obtaining people’s bank cash cards along with their personal information through scams involving sending people returnable postal mail enclosed with a document titled “Amendments to the Banking Act Pertaining to the Introduction of the New Era to Replace the Current (Heisei) Era” (which is a fabrication with fictitious information contained therein) under the pretext of alerting mail recipients to upgrade their bank cash cards to those equipped with anti-tamper functions on account of the change of the era name from the current Heisei, and instructing them to fill out their bank account information including PINs or passwords for accounts in the application form for the upgrade of bank cash cards, and then to send back the filled-out application forms along with their current bank cash cards in the enclosed return-mail envelopes. The FSA stresses that the Japanese Bank Association and banks will never ask people to reveal PINs or passwords for accounts, alerts people to beware of such fraudulent attempts, thereby encouraging people to report to (and/or consult with) the authorities (such as the Police and the FSA’s Counseling Office for Financial Services Users) whenever any hint of fraudulence is detected.
February 7, 2019	Request for financial measures to deal with the outbreak of classical swine fever (hog cholera) in Nagano Prefecture, Aichi Prefecture, Osaka Prefecture, and Shiga Prefecture (The Kanto Local Finance Bureau, the Tokai Local Finance Bureau, and the Kinki Local Finance Bureau)  < Summary> The Kanto Local Finance Bureau, the Tokai Local Finance Bureau, and the Kinki Local Finance Bureau respectively issued the statement titled “Financial Measures in Response to the Report of the Classical Swine Fever (Hog Cholera)” to the relevant financial institutions in Nagano Prefecture, Aichi Prefecture, Osaka Prefecture, and Shiga 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.

Securities

February ６, 2019

Administrative action against a notifier of specially permitted business for qualified institutional investors (SPBQII) who failed to file the mandatory documents in full to the authorities in violation of an order for the collection of reports  < Summary> The Kinki Local Finance Bureau took an administrative action against a notifier of specially permitted business for qualified institutional investors (SPBQII) who failed to file the mandatory documents in full to the Kinki Local Finance Bureau in violation of an order for the collection of reports, ordering the improvement of the notifier’s business operations pursuant to the “Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.”

 

Others

February 8, 2019

Publication of the agenda and handouts of the 56th Meeting of the Financial Service ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) Liaison Group  < Summary> The FSA published the agenda and handouts of the 56th Meeting of the Financial Service ADR Liaison Group, which was held on February 8, 2019.

February 8, 2019

Activities of the FSA’s Counseling Office for Financial Services Users between October 1 and December 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 October 1 and December 31, 2018, the counseling office received 9,431 inquiries and comments, remaining roughly flat from 9,364 cases in the previous quarter (between July 1 and September 30, 2018).