Japan
On 1 October 2024, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) published the Comprehensive Measures to Protect the Public from Fraud. It was noted there has been an increase in cases of damage caused by fraudulent investment advertisements, impersonations etc., which may be in breach of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. Under the new comprehensive measures, the FSA will be working with social network service operators to collect information and remove such false advertisements. For more information, please click here.
On 8 October 2024, the FSA announced an industry-wide cybersecurity exercise “Delta Wall IX”. The number of cyber-attacks has been increasing in recent years, with those attacks becoming more sophisticated and complex. To ensure the security of the financial services industry, 170 financial institutions will perform a cybersecurity exercise between 9 – 21 October. For more information, please click here.
On 23 October 2024, the FSA published draft amendments to the Law on Book-entry of Bonds, Shares, etc. The main amendments include the digitisation of certain procedures and minor changes of scope relating to claims of designated officials in appeal procedures under the Certified Public Accountants Act, etc. For more information, please click here.
On 23 October 2024, the FSA published draft amendments to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. The main amendments include the development of provisions for the electronic provision of prospectuses, digitisation in certain areas, and changes to stipulated information to be provided to customers before the conclusion of a contract, such as exemptions of providing certain explanations for customers with certain attributes. For more information, please click here.
Enforcement
On 31 October 2024, the FSA, in response to a recommendation from the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission (SESC), commenced hearing proceedings to ZOZO Co. for an alleged insider trading offence. For more information, please click here.
On 31 October 2024, the FSA published an article relating to the decision to issue a surcharge payment order of 350,000 yen to an officer of Minkabu Ji Infonoid Co. based upon a recommendation from the SESC due to discovering insider trading by the officer of the company during an inspection. For more information, please click here.
On 31 October 2024, the FSA published an article relating to the decision to issue a surcharge payment order of 100,000 yen to Sakai Holdings Co. based upon a recommendation from the SESC due to the non-submission of a large shareholding report uncovered during an inspection. For more information, please click here.
On 31 October 2024, the FSA published an article relating to the decision to issue a surcharge payment order of 100,000 yen to Sanwa Co. based upon a recommendation from the SESC due to the provision of false information relating to holdings of shares in Sakai Holdings Co. uncovered during an inspection. For more information, please click here.
This document is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, investment, regulatory, accounting or other professional advice. For more information on the legal and regulatory status of IQ-EQ companies please visit www.iqeq.com/legal-and-compliance.