What’s New on the FSA Website

Week of June 11, 2021 - June 17, 2021

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

Public Comments

(The following public comments are available in Japanese)

June 15, 2021

Publication of the draft "Cabinet Office Order to Amend the Cabinet Office Order on Transactions under Article 161-2 of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act and Deposits Related Thereto" <Summary> The FSA proposed the draft "Cabinet Office Order to Amend the Cabinet Office Order on Transactions under Article 161-2 of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act and Deposits Related Thereto." The proposal mainly intends to expressly set out in the rules of financial instruments firms associations certified by the FSA the current price and applicable rate regarding "substitute securities" in terms of margin transactions of foreign listed stocks and others.

June 11, 2021

Publication of the finalized amendments to the "Basic Procedures for On-Site Inspections" (provisional English title) <Summary> The FSA has finalized the amendments to the "Basic Procedures for On-Site Inspections" (provisional English title). The amendments mainly reflect recommendations from the "Collaborative Task Force to Further Strengthen the Linkage Between the FSA's Inspections Function and the BOJ's On-Site Examination Function" (established in November, 2020), in terms of alleviating the monitoring/examination-related burden on financial institutions and implementing higher-quality monitoring. The amendments took effect on June 11, 2021.

 

Press Releases

(The following press releases are available in English)

Insurance

June 15, 2021	Overview of financial results of major insurance companies as of March 31, 2021

Others

June 11, 2021	Finalization of the Revised Guidelines for Investor and Company Engagement
June 11, 2021	New location established for Financial Market Entry Office

(The following press releases are available in Japanese)
 

Councils

June 16, 2021	Publication of the agenda and handouts of the 60th Meeting of the Financial Service ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) Liaison Group <Summary> The FSA published the agenda and handouts of the 60th Meeting of the Financial Service ADR Liaison Group, which was held on June 11, 2021.
June 16, 2021	Publication of the agenda and handouts of the 52nd meeting of the Audit Standard Committee of the Business Accounting Council <Summary> The FSA published the agenda and handouts of the 52nd meeting of the Audit Standard Committee of the Business Accounting Council, which was held on June 16, 2021.
June 15, 2021	The 17th Consultation Meeting in Relation to the Multiple-Debt Problem and Consumer Finance <Summary> On June 22, 2021, the FSA and the Consumer Affairs Agency jointly held the 17th Consultation Meeting in Relation to the Multiple-Debt Problem and Consumer Finance. The consultation meeting was held to follow up the status on lenders and borrowers as part of the measures based on the "Program to Remedy the Multiple-Debt Problem."
June 14, 2021	Publication of the agenda and handouts of the 11th meeting of the "Working Group on Capital Market Regulations" (provisional English title) of the Financial System Council <Summary> The FSA published the agenda and handouts of the 11th meeting of the "Working Group on Capital Market Regulations" (provisional English title) of the Financial System Council, which was held on June 14, 2021.
June 11, 2021	Publication of the agenda and handouts of the eighth meeting of the "Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance" <Summary> The FSA published the agenda and handouts of the eighth meeting of the "Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance," which was held online on June 11, 2021. The Expert Panel is composed of business, financial, and academic experts with observers of officials from pertinent ministries and agencies. The FSA (Strategy Development Division, Strategy Development and Management Bureau) serves as the secretariat.

Banks

June 16, 2021

Publication of the updated regulatory notice designating financial institutions based on the provision of Article 15, Paragraph 2 of the "Order for Enforcement of the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Business Enhancement Act, etc." <Summary> The FSA published the updated regulatory notice designating financial institutions based on the provision of Article 15, Paragraph 2 of the "Order for Enforcement of the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Business Enhancement Act, etc." The updates mainly pertain to technical amendments. The updated regulatory notice was enforced on June 16, 2021.

 

Insurance

June 16, 2021

Publication of the "Cabinet Office Order to Abolish the Cabinet Office Order that Prescribes the Number, etc., Specified by the Cabinet Office Order as Provided in the Parts Other Than Those Listed in the Items of Article 1 of the Order for Enforcement of the Act on Special Measures for Productivity Improvement" <Summary> The FSA published the "Cabinet Office Order to Abolish the Cabinet Office Order that Prescribes the Number, etc., Specified by the Cabinet Office Order as Provided in the Parts Other than Those Listed in the Items of Article 1 of the Order for Enforcement of the Act on Special Measures for Productivity Improvement." This Cabinet Office Order pertains to the enforcement of the "Cabinet Order on Development, etc. of the Relevant and Applicable Cabinet Orders in Connection with the Partial Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Industrial Competitiveness Enhancement Act, etc." With the abolition of the "Act on Special Measures for Productivity Improvement" in tandem with its relevant and applicable Cabinet Order, the Cabinet Office Order stipulating the requirements for the exemption from the application of the prohibition of reinsurance underwriting by small amount and short term insurance providers under the delegation thereof is also abolished. The Cabinet Office Order was enforced on June 16, 2021.

June 16, 2021

License granted to Zenkankyo Small Amount and Short Term Insurance Holdings, Ltd.* to conduct non-life insurance business <Summary> The FSA granted a license to Zenkankyo Small Amount and Short Term Insurance Holdings, Ltd.* to conduct non-life insurance business pursuant to the "Insurance Business Act." * This corporate name has been changed anew to "Zenkankyo Reiwa Insurance Company, Limited" after it obtained the insurance business license.

Others

June 16, 2021	Request for financial measures to deal with disasters and other emergency situations <Summary> The FSA and the Local Finance Bureaus, etc. requested financial institutions across the nation to appropriately deal with disaster victims* in the wake of disasters and other emergency situations considering their circumstances, such as by flexibly responding to their needs in terms of the repayment of deposits and savings, handling of bills and checks, loan counseling for emergency funds, prompt payment of insurance claims and deferred payment of insurance premiums, etc. *Disaster victims who are subject to relief under the" Disaster Relief Act"
June 16, 2021	Publication of a leaflet warning against multiple-debt risks incurred by using money lending services on the pretense of goods sales transactions with deferred payment at high interest/fees off[open new window] ered by financial services providers (money lenders) <Summary> The FSA published a leaflet warning against multiple-debt risks incurred by using money lending services on the pretense of goods sales transactions with deferred payment at high interest/fees offered by financial services providers (money lenders).
June 15, 2021	Publication of "Statistics of NISA and Junior NISA Accounts" as of December 31, 2020 (revised figures) <Summary> The FSA has published "Statistics of NISA and Junior NISA Accounts" (revised figures). As of December 31, 2020, there were approximately 15.2 million NISA accounts in total, and approximately 21.7 trillion yen (approximately 197.3 billion USD) was invested through the NISA accounts, among which, 761.4 billion yen (approximately 6.9 billion USD) was invested through approximately 3.0 million accounts of the Tsumitate NISA (Dollar-Cost Averaging NISA) which has started since January 2018.
June 11, 2021	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.
June 11, 2021	Publication of the assessment report on the FSA's monitoring implementation status from viewpoints of financial institutions based on a series of consultation with financial institutions by a third-party consulting service provider <Summary> The FSA sets forth in its "JFSA's supervisory approaches" to introduce a third-party assessment on the FSA’s supervisory approaches by experts who are well-versed in business improvement and governance practices for the quality improvement in the FSA’s financial administration such as in respect of working-level supervisory approaches inclusive of monitoring practices. In this regard, the FSA has entrusted Mitsubishi Research Institute, Inc., a third-party consulting service provider, to conduct the assessment on the FSA’s monitoring practices through a series of consultation with financial institutions, and thereafter published on its website the assessment report on the FSA’s monitoring implementation status from viewpoints of financial institutions which was compiled by the said consulting service provider.
June 11, 2021	Publication of the updated guideline on the appropriate use of LINE and other similar freeware cross-platform text, video and audio chat applications at work by government agencies, local governments and others <Summary> The FSA has shared on its website the updated guideline* on the appropriate use of LINE and other similar freeware cross-platform text, video and audio chat applications at work by government agencies, local governments and others. While the said guideline sets forth that emergency responses including confidential information using LINE services or similar kind of services shall not be excluded as an exception in providing consultation services where there is a high possibility of endangering human lives, the term "consultation services" has been amended to "consultation services, etc." by broadening its scope, so that it may contribute to the appropriate application of the said guideline. In this regard, the contents subject to consultation services were enhanced by adding matters of "disaster-related damages, sudden symptomatic changes due to infectious diseases, etc." in addition to bullying and abuse.   * The updated guideline was originally published by the Cabinet Secretariat, the Personal Information Protection Commission, the FSA (Financial Services Agency), and the MIC (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications) on April 30, 2020. It provides their perspectives on the future appropriate use of services of LINE and other similar freeware cross-platform text, video, and audio chat applications at work in government agencies, local governments, and others, based on a survey of the actual use of LINE services at work by government agencies, local governments, and others. (The guideline is only available in Japanese.)