Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred twenty-ninth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. The Bank of Japan will hold its Monetary Policy Meeting on September 18 & 19, following the FOMC in the US. The consensus expectation is for the Bank to keep its policy rate on hold this time; beyond
Insurance
MS&AD Insurance Group's subsidiaries—Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance (MSI) and Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance (ANDI)—have submitted their quarterly progress report on executing the business improvement plans mandated by Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA). The plans address root causes of past misconduct, including price-fixing (insurance
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred twenty-eighth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. Prime Minister Ishiba announced his resignation right after he "gave away the store" to Trump, as Richard Katz observed. As the governmental budget season is under way, the Financial Services Agency has requested the highly anticipated
supervision
The Financial Services Agency (FSA) reported on its meetings held with Japan's financial industry associations during July 2025, outlining its key priorities and concerns. I. Common Points Raised Across Associations These topics were consistently raised by the FSA in meetings with the life insurance, general insurance, securities, trust,
mergers & acquisitions
SOMPO Holdings, through its subsidiary Sompo International Holdings (SIH), has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the outstanding ordinary shares of Aspen Insurance Holdings. The Acquisition has been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of SOMPO and of Aspen. Background of the Acquisition Under the Mid-Term
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred twenty-seventh edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. Congratulations to the WebX & Coinpost teams for delivering an outstanding conference! Although SBI took the headlines with a full plate of announcements already on the Friday prior in Osaka, the news flow did not let up. More
Insurance
The Financial Services Agency published a partial revision (draft) of the "Comprehensive Supervision Guidelines for Insurance Companies" and other documents from Monday, May 12, 2025 to Friday, June 13, 2025, and widely solicited comments. In response, the Agency received a total of 468 comments related to the partial
insurtech
Shift Technology, a provider of AI-driven decision automation and optimization solutions for the global insurance industry, has recently delivered generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) capabilities as part of their Shift Claims Fraud Detection and Shift Claims Intake deployments for Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance. Shift’s Gen AI-powered visual
Insurance
The FWD Group has published its interim results report for the six months ended June 30, 2025, its first since going public on the Hong Kong Exchange in July 2025, allowing for a look at its Japanese business. FWD entered the Japanese market in 2017 through the acquisition of AIG
banking
The Financial Services Agency (FSA) held a series of meetings with Japan's financial industry associations, outlining its key priorities and concerns. The discussions reveal a strong focus on enhancing governance, strengthening cybersecurity, and ensuring customer-centric operations across the entire financial system. I. Common Points Raised Across Associations Several
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred twenty-fourth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. The TOPIX reached a record high on August 8, 2025, hitting 3038.84 points during the regular session and closing at 3024.21. This was the first time TOPIX has broken 3000 points in its history. It closed
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred twenty-third edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. Earnings season is in full swing, and there were plenty of announcements last week, so we would just like to draw your attention to the Japan Fair Trade Commission's guidelines for smartphone apps - coming into