What’s New on the FSA Website

Week of August 26, 2019 - August 30, 2019

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

Press Conferences

August 29, 2019	Press Conference by the Minister for Financial Services (August 8, 2019) Japanese version
August 29, 2019	Press Conference by the Minister for Financial Services (August 2, 2019) Japanese version

Public Comments

(The following public comments are available in Japanese)

August 30, 2019	Publication of the draft “Cabinet Office Order to Amend the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Labor Bank Act” <Summary> The FSA published the draft “Cabinet Office Order to Amend the Ordinance for the Enforcement of the Labor Bank Act.” The proposal mainly aims to reflect requests for deregulation from the financial sector including relevant trade associations.

Press Releases

(The following press releases are available in English)

Policies

August 28, 2019	Publication of summary points from JFSA policy assessment and strategic priorities 2019

International 

August 28, 2019	FSA will organize FIN/SUM 2019

Councils

August 28, 2019	Publication of the “Report on the development of regulations regarding payment and settlement and cross-sectional financial services intermediaries－basic concept” by the “Study Group on the Financial System” under the Financial System Council

Banks

August 30, 2019	The FSA publishes the status of loans held by all banks as of the end of March 2019, based on the Financial Reconstruction Act

Publication

August 30, 2019	Publication of the 193rd issue of the FSA’s journal, Access FSA

Others

August 29, 2019	Updated statistics of money lending business
August 28, 2019	Publication of the “Report on the development of regulations regarding payment and settlement and cross-sectional financial services intermediaries－basic concept” by the “Study Group on the Financial System” under the Financial System Council

(The following press releases are available in Japanese)

Banks

August 30, 2019	Updated list of support agencies for business innovation <Summary> The FSA published an updated list of support agencies for business innovation pursuant to the “Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Business Enhancement Act .etc.” (There were no entities newly authorized this time).
August 30, 2019	Requests for the utilization of the “Corporation for Revitalizing Earthquake affected Business” <Summary> The FSA requested that bank associations of deposit taking financial institutions and The Norinchukin Bank utilize the “Corporation for Revitalizing Earthquake affected Business.”
August 30, 2019	Publication of a summary of the survey on financial institutions' preventive measures against unlawful reimbursement of deposits (as of March 31, 2019) <Summary> The FSA published a summary of the survey on financial institutions' preventive measures against unlawful reimbursement of deposits as of March 31, 2019 (the end of FY 2018). In order to grasp the status of the enforcement of the "Act on Protection of Depositors and Postal Saving Holders from Unauthorized Automated Withdrawal, Using Counterfeit Cards, and Stolen Cards," the FSA collects information annually from financial institutions and publishes the summary.

Others

August 30, 2019	Publication of the FY 2018 Performance Evaluation Report <Summary> The FSA published the FY 2018 Performance Evaluation Report following evaluations pursuant to the “Government Policy Evaluations Act.”
August 30, 2019	Publication of the minutes and handouts of the Expert Panel on Policy Assessment <Summary> The FSA published the minutes and handouts of the Expert Panel on Policy Assessment held on June 13, 2019.
August 30, 2019	Publication of the request for organization, staff and budget for FY 2020 <Summary> The FSA published an overview of the request for organization, staff and budget for FY 2020.
August 30, 2019	Publication of the expenditure budget request for FY 2020 <Summary> The FSA published the expenditure budget request for FY 2020.
August 30, 2019	Publication of the FSA’s FY 2020 request for tax revisions <Summary> The FSA published the FY 2020 request for tax revisions.
August 30, 2019	Outreach initiatives by the FSA to inform relevant stakeholders about benchmark transition in actions to prepare for the LIBOR permanent discontinuation <Summary> While comprehensive discussions toward interest rate benchmark reform have been developing in each jurisdiction, the FSA is aiming at implementing outreach initiatives to inform relevant stakeholders including financial institutions, non-financial corporations, and institutional investors about the benchmark transition, by cooperating with competent authorities including the Bank of Japan. As an outreach initiative, the FSA shares relevant information on its website to help stakeholders gain a further understanding of the necessity of preparing for the permanent discontinuation of London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), thereby supporting the market-wide initiatives to make an orderly transition away from LIBOR.
August 30, 2019	Updated list of entities that are operating financial instruments businesses without proper registration (The Kanto Local Finance Bureau) <Summary> The FSA and the Kanto Local Finance Bureau issued warnings to entities including a notifier of specially permitted business for qualified institutional investors (SPBQII) that are operating financial instruments businesses without proper registration. (See updated lists of Japan-based entities and foreign-based entities).
August 28, 2019	Request for financial measures to deal with disasters caused by the heavy rain from a seasonal rain front in August 2019 (The Saga Local Finance Office of the Fukuoka Local Finance Branch Bureau) <Summary> The Saga Local Finance Office of the Fukuoka Local Finance Branch Bureau and the Bank of Japan's Fukuoka Branch issued a joint statement titled "Financial Measures to Deal with Disasters Caused by the Heavy Rain from a Seasonal Rain Front in August 2019" to the relevant financial institutions. The statement requests the financial institutions in Saga Prefecture to appropriately deal with victims of the disaster considering their circumstances, such as flexibly responding to the needs of deposit withdrawal.
August 28, 2019	Publication of a documentary video on parent-child (family) cooperative workshop titled “How Money Works” (provisional English title) <Summary> The FSA published a documentary video on a parent-child (family) cooperative workshop titled “How Money Works” (provisional English title) held in February and March 2019. The video (inclusive of contents of the workshop) shows how parents and their children (elementary school pupils) who joined the workshop enjoyed a fun learning opportunity about how money works, wherein external experts (financial planners who are working mothers with young children) were invited as tutors of the workshop.
August 28, 2019	Publication of the monitoring results pertaining to the status of investment trust distributors' implementation of customer-oriented business conduct <Summary> The FSA has been monitoring financial institutions (where headquarters, senior managements, and employees engaging in sales of financial instruments such as investment trusts have been subject to the monitoring) to grasp the actual state of their customer-oriented business conducts in selling financial instruments such as investment trusts, particularly as to whether there is any divergence between their customer-oriented business policies and actual business conducts. In this respect, the FSA published the monitoring results pertaining to the implementation of customer-oriented business conduct by major investment trust distributors. The distributors subject to the monitoring represent 10 major banks, 20 regional banks, and 12 securities companies.