Japan’s top financial regulator has responded to media reports that it is considering overhauling the way cryptocurrency is regulated in the country. The authority has been under fire for the inadequacy of its crypto exchange registration process after it issued business improvement orders to a number of exchanges it previously approved.
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FSA Reportedly Considering New Crypto Law
On Tuesday, June 3, the Sankei Shimbun reported that Japan’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), is considering overhauling the way cryptocurrency is regulated in the country. The news outlet claims that the FSA is mulling over switching from using the revised fund settlement law to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA), elaborating:
Virtual currency is considered a means of settlement, the same as electronic money etc. by the revised fund settlement law, but if it becomes subject to the regulation by the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, it will be treated as a financial product.
The FIEA “obliges securities companies and others to manage customer funds and securities (stocks, etc.) separately from corporate assets,” the publication noted. In addition, companies must establish “a strict investor protection system, such as forbidding insider trading of stocks.”
FSA’s Response
Impress Corporation subsequently published the FSA’s response to the reports by the Sankei Shimbun and a few other local publications. After contacting the agency to verify the news, the publication quoted the agency conveying, “there was no such fact.”
The news outlet added that the FSA regularly holds a research meeting with academics experts, financial practitioners, institutional members, and other industry participants to respond to various problems surrounding the crypto industry.
The FSA told the news outlet:
If there are
