Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred eighteenth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. We are going to be a bit policy- and white paper-heavy this week. From a macro perspective, we have included the government's "Grand Design and Action Plan for a New Form of Capitalism, 2025 Revised
Weekly
Welcome to the - exceptionally late - one hundred seventeenth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. At the Monetary Policy Meeting held last week, the Policy Board of the Bank of Japan decided, by a unanimous vote, to set the following guideline for money market operations for the intermeeting period:
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred sixteenth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. We are back, and so is the Bank of Japan, with their June Monetary Policy Meeting. While a change in the policy rate is not expected, the Bank will update its plan for JGB purchases starting in April
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred fifteenth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. Greetings from Lake Biwa! Our annual sake brewery tour & domestic holiday has us hovering around Japan's biggest lake, with our path leading us across Gifu, Shiga, Fukui, and Kyoto prefectures so far. We got to
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred fourteenth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. Never a dull moment in banking! Deal-making galore, and finally the cash on those balance sheets is put to productive use (rather than stock buy backs and increased dividends, i.e. financial engineering), with the aim of developing
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred thirteenth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. When I joined an investment bank in 2000, we had afternoon fruit baskets. These disappeared after the internet bubble burst, and even before 9/11 happened. A few years later, fruit baskets made a comeback, only to be
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred twelfth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. We are almost through earnings season, with mainly the three mega insurers scheduled for this week. So you will find quite a few highlights of financial results in this edition, and we are hosting a webinar on Tuesday,
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred eleventh edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. For many, this was a three-day working week. For some, it was a four-day working weekend. Reading the announcements of Sony Bank's migration to a new core banking system reminded us of our own time in
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred tenth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. The decades-long (if not forever) pricing system for Japanese sake has been broken. It has not happened overnight, rather it has been a slow, post-pandemic process as far as I could tell, but by now most of the
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred ninth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. We are entering our own Japanese-style "triple witching" week. First, Golden Week has started, typically a good time to stay pat in Tokyo when everyone is traveling. However, travel has become expensive for Japanese residents, and
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred eighth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. The digital banking landscape has become a little clearer. This week, Money Forward and MUFG ended their factoring joint venture, Biz Forward, with Money Forward making it a wholly owned subsidiary. A few days later, SMBC and Money
Weekly
Welcome to the one hundred seventh edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. While we thought the prior week was extreme, the past week gifted us two of the best 20 return days of the TOPIX, and one of the worst 20.....since 1968! By this point, you will also have