artificial intelligence
Mizuho Financial Group has developed a "finance-specialized LLM (Large Language Model)" trained on banking-specific business knowledge, rules, and procedures, which has achieved passing-level performance on banking practical exams. This model has acquired complex industry-specific rules and regulations unique to the financial sector, as well as internal procedures and
robo advisor
The "ROBOPRO Fund", established on December 28, 2023 by SBI Okasan Asset Management, surpassed 200 billion yen in net assets on December 9, 2025. This milestone was reached approximately 3.5 months after surpassing 100 billion yen in net assets on August 22 of this year. The Fund
biometrics
NEC Orchestrating Future Fund, an ecosystem-based corporate venture capital (CVC) fund, has invested in PopID, a U.S.-based provider of face authentication payment services. The investment strengthens NEC’s position in next-generation digital transactions by combining its world-leading biometric authentication technology with PopID’s rapidly growing payment platform. Together,
staking
Animoca Brands Japan has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for strategic cooperation in the Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) domain with Solv Protocol, the Bitcoin decentralized finance (BTCFi: Bitcoin DeFi) protocol. Under this agreement, Animoca Brands Japan and Solv Protocol will support Japanese listed companies in holding and managing Bitcoin.
Tallinn
EIS invited Estonian companies to participate in the event "Japan Tech Day 2025: Financial Services", held on December 3, 2025, in Tallinn. Japan Tech Day 2025 was dedicated to digital solutions and ICT innovation in the financial services sector. The event brought together Estonian and Japanese companies to
lending
In "Key Directives and Priorities of Japan's Financial Services Agency (October 2025)", we mentioned that Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) is advancing two primary programs aimed at strengthening the real economy and improving business financing, one of which is the Enterprise Value Charge (EVC,
Tallinn
The fifth stop of our "ICT & FinTech Mission to Tallinn" last week, courtesy of Enterprise Estonia, led us to Codeborne, where we were hosted by software entrepreneur Toomas Talts. The meeting provided a deep dive into Codeborne’s operational philosophy, technical methodologies, and its unique, long-standing relationship
regulation
This article synthesizes the key discussion points, directives, and strategic priorities communicated by Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) during its October 2025 meetings with various financial industry associations. The purpose of this briefing is to provide a high-level strategic analysis of the FSA's primary focus areas,
artificial intelligence
Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) has recently published the minutes for its third AI Public-Private Forum, held on November 5, 2025, which brought together a distinguished group of experts to chart a course for the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence in the financial sector. The forum's
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred forty-first edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. Last week, we were delighted to participate in the "ICT & FinTech Mission to Tallinn" this past week, courtesy of EIS | Enterprise Estonia. As we are settling down back home, we are iteratively reporting on the
regional banks
Regional Financial Institutions (RFIs) are the cornerstone of Japan's local economies. As outlined in the "Working Group on Strengthening Regional Financial Capabilities" draft report, their role extends beyond simple financing to become a driving force for regional economic vitality. However, their capacity to fulfill this critical
artificial intelligence
Mizuho Financial Group is releasing the generative AI-powered platform "Wiz Base" and will earnestly promote large-scale PoCs (Proof of Concepts) in anticipation of full-scale implementation of AI utilization in the sales support domain. Wiz Base is a platform built by Mizuho on Amazon Web Services (AWS) to operate