FSA Weekly Review No.364

What’s New on the FSA Website

Week of October 15, 2019 - October 18, 2019

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

Public Comments

(The following public comments are available in Japanese)

October 18, 2019	Publication of the draft regulatory notice designating rules of the Financial Instruments Firms Association based on the "Cabinet Office Order on Financial Instruments Business, etc." <Summary> The FSA proposed the draft regulatory notice designating rules of the Financial Instruments Firms Association based on the "Cabinet Office Order on Financial Instruments Business, etc." The proposal mainly pertains to the designation of a rule which mandates OTC FX margin brokers to ensure preservation of transaction data and to improve their reporting structure to the Financial Instruments Firms Association.
October 17, 2019	Publication of the draft "Cabinet Office Order to Amend the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Act on Utilization of Information and Communications Technology in Administrative Procedure, etc. Pertaining to Finance Related Laws and Regulations Under the Jurisdiction of the Cabinet Office" <Summary> The FSA published the draft "Cabinet Office Order to Amend the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Act on Utilization of Information and Communications Technology in Administrative Procedure, etc. Pertaining to Finance Related Laws and Regulations Under the Jurisdiction of the Cabinet Office" in accordance with the enactment of the "Act on Partial Revision of the Act on Utilization of Information and Communications Technology in Administrative Procedure, etc. to Improve the Convenience of Stakeholders Who Engage in Administrative Procedures, and to Ensure Simplification and Efficiency of Administrative Operations by Leveraging Information and Communications Technology" (provisional English Law title). The proposal mainly aims at having administrative procedures implemented on an online basis in principle, thereby expressly setting forth such rule in the applicable Cabinet Office Orders and regulatory notices which are under the jurisdiction of the FSA.
October 15, 2019	Publication of the finalized "Cabinet Office Order to Amend the Ordinance for the Enforcement of the Banking Act, etc." <Summary> The FSA finalized the "Cabinet Office Order to Amend the Ordinance for the Enforcement of the Banking Act, etc." The amendments mainly reflect requests for deregulation from the financial sector including relevant trade associations.

Press Releases

(The following press releases are available in English)

International 

October 16, 2019	Development in Green, Social and Sustainability Bond Markets - Keynote Speech by Commissioner Toshihide Endo
October 16, 2019	Opening Ceremony of World Investor Week 2019 - Opening Remarks by Commissioner Toshihide Endo
October 16, 2019	ASIFMA (Asia Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association) Annual Conference 2019 - Keynote Speech by Commissioner Toshihide Endo
October 16, 2019	ASIFMA (Asia Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association) Annual Conference 2019 - Keynote Speech by Jun MIZUGUCHI,Senior Deputy Commissioner for International Affairs
October 15, 2019	Joint EU-Japan financial regulatory forum

Others

(The following press releases are available in Japanese)

Securities

October 16, 2019

The first trial of administrative penalty cases against three individuals; one who communicated insider information regarding stocks of STrust Co.,Ltd. learned as an officer of the entity; and the other two who (as non-insiders) committed insider trading regarding the said stocks by using the information received from the said officer <Summary> On October 23, 2019, the first trial of administrative penalty cases against an individual who communicated insider information regarding stocks of STrust Co.,Ltd. learned as an officer of the entity to two individuals (non-insiders), and against the said two individuals who committed insider trading regarding the said stocks by using the information received from the said officer was conducted.

Others

October 18, 2019	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 Typhoon No.19, 2019, the Order provides the following mitigation measures when financial institutions provide loans for the disaster-affected victims. 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 to provide flexibility in loan applications for individual business owners which are exempt from the statutory total lending limit requirements to provide flexibility in loan applications for cash advances (cashing) under revolving credit loans (financing within the scope of statutory lending limits) 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 October 18, 2019.
October 18, 2019	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" (the NPA has the main jurisdiction over the Order). The Order mainly provides the following updates: To grant an exemption to the obligation of verification at the time of transaction when a transaction pertains to donation. This exemption is limited to a cash remittance that is not more than two million yen for the purpose of making a disaster relief donation in respect to Typhoon No. 19 of 2019 to a donation account that is opened mainly to accept disaster relief donations related to Typhoon No. 19. To grant an exemption to the methods of verification of customer identification data of the disaster-affected victims (in terms of receiving declared identification data from the disaster-affected victims). This exemption temporarily allows financial institutions to verify disaster-affected clients' identities based on the clients' self-declared certification if the clients' identification documents were lost in the wake of the disaster caused by Typhoon No. 19 of 2019. The aforementioned updates were enforced on October 18, 2019.
October 18, 2019	Warning against (potential) charity scams in the wake of Typhoon No. 19 of 2019 <Summary> The FSA issued a warning against (potential) disaster-relief charity scams in the wake of Typhoon No. 19 of 2019. Charity scams tend to emerge in the wake of disasters, where scammers take advantage of people’s kindness, stealing money and personal information by impersonating representatives of genuine charitable entities or public institutions. The FSA urges people to be cautious of such fraudulent attempts, encouraging people to report to (and/or consult with) the authorities (such as the police or the FSA's Counseling Office for Financial Services Users) whenever any sign of fraudulence is detected. The FSA also urges people to do research, prior to making donations, to ensure that their donations will reach their intended destination and be used in good faith.
October 18, 2019	Extension of the filing due dates of annual securities reports, internal control reports, quarterly securities reports, and semiannual securities reports in case of business impediments caused by Typhoon No.19 of 2019 (October 16, 2019)(October 18, 2019) <Summary> The FSA has announced that disaster-affected corporations may extend the filing due dates of their annual securities reports, internal control reports, quarterly securities reports, and semiannual securities reports if business impediments have been caused by Typhoon No.19 of 2019, pursuant to the enforcement of the "Cabinet Order on the Specific Extraordinary Disaster Caused by Typhoon No. 19 of 2019 to Designate Measures to be Applied Thereto" (provisional English Order title). Further inquiries including concerns on business impediments caused by Typhoon No. 19 are being accepted by the respective competent local finance bureaus and local finance branch bureaus. In this respect, a disaster-affected corporation which has been unwittingly forced to miss the statutory deadline for filing the reports due to force majeure shall not be held liable administratively or criminally for the failure of filing, if the corporation files the said reports by January 31, 2020.
October 16, 2019	New one-stop access to the disaster response-related information pertaining to Typhoon No.19, 2019 <Summary> The FSA newly added a subpage to its website to provide one-stop access to the disaster response related information pertaining to Typhoon No. 19, 2019. 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.
October 15, 2019	Request for financial measures to deal with disasters caused by Typhoon No. 19 (The Tohoku Local Finance Bureau, the Kanto Local Finance Bureau, and the Tokai Local Finance Bureau) (October 13 and 14, 2019) <Summary> On October 13, 2019, the Tohoku Local Finance Bureau (inclusive of Morioka Local Finance Office and Fukushima Local Finance Office) along with the Sendai Branch and the Fukushima Branch of the Bank of Japan (BOJ); and the Kanto Local Finance Bureau along with the Financial System and Bank Examination Department of the BOJ as well as the BOJ's applicable branches: Maebashi, Yokohama, Niigata, Kofu, and Matsumoto, respectively issued joint statements titled "Financial Measures to deal with disasters caused by Typhoon No.19, 2019" to the relevant institutions. On the subsequent date, the Shizuoka Local Finance Office of the Tokai Local Finance Bureau along with the BOJ's Shizuoka Branch issued as well a joint statement with the same content. The said statements request financial institutions in the respective prefectures* to appropriately deal with victims of the disaster considering their circumstances, such as by making the repayment of deposits flexible. * Tokyo Metropolis and 12 prefectures: Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Kanagawa, Niigata, Yamanashi, Nagano, and Shizuoka.
October 15, 2019	Establishment of a phone line for "Free Telephone Consultation Service for the Victims of the Disaster Caused by Typhoon No. 15 and No. 19 in 2019" <Summary> In response to the disaster caused by Typhoon No.15 and No.19 in 2019, the FSA’s Counseling Office for Financial Service Users has established a phone line for "Free Telephone Consultation Service for the Victims of the Disaster Caused by Typhoon No. 15 and No. 19 in 2019" 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).)
October 15, 2019	Publication of the updated FAQ for the "Guidelines for Personal Guarantee Provided by Business Owners" <Summary> The FSA published the updated FAQ for the "Guidelines for Personal Guarantee Provided by Business Owners." From the perspective of facilitating smooth application of the Guidelines by further clarifying its objectives, the FAQ was revised by the study group on the "Guidelines for Personal Guarantee Provided by Business Owners."