Welcome to the twenty-sixth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. Will it or will it not? The Japanese Yen, I mean. Cross 150. The Bank of Japan last week did again what it is best known for — nothing. The Fed also held still, although it hinted at further hikes…

With its first result as a publicly listed company, SBI Sumishin Net Bank in May provided a detailed status of its Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) business, and projected Keio Corporation, Matsui Securities and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank as the next partners going live.

Okasan Securities announced that it has concluded a basic agreement with GMO Aozora Net Bank to launch a bank agency business. Since Okasan’s founding, the group has provided specialized investment and asset management services to their customers as an independent financial group rooted in the local community, with the management…

Moomoo Japan has launched its online brokerage business on September 19. Japanese investors are now able to trade approximately 7,000 US stocks and ETFs on the moomoo platform, which represents the highest level of tradable U.S. shares in the Japanese industry, according to the firm. moomoo also starts with the…

Flex, formerly known as Flexbase, has raised a USD 120m Series A debt and equity funding round, which includes debt financing from CIM with an agreement to fund up to USD 100m, and USD 20m in equity capital led by Florida Funders with participation from Home Depot Ventures™, MS&AD Ventures…

TipRanks is an investment research company that levels the playing field, giving every investor access to invaluable stock research information that was formerly available only to top Wall Street experts. Using AI, TipRanks gathers publicly available information about stocks, and presents them in easy-to-understand datasets. Brokerages and banks as far…

Welcome to the twenty-fifth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. Last week saw Token 2049 in Singapore with a raft of announcements, but we have the crowds back in Tokyo for the Game Show this week. Prime Minister Kishida filled all 54 junior ministerial positions with men following his recent…

Nippon Life established Hanasaku Life in 2019 as a 100% owned subsidiary to respond flexibly to varied customer demand in the independent retail agency market. Hanasaku Life is developing products through agile product development and the use of digital technology, aiming to steadily expand the business in the shared agency…

This week, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Zeroboard announced that they have signed a basic agreement to collaborate on the interoperability of CO2 emissions data. SMBC provides "Sustana" and Zeroboard provides "Zeroboard" as services for visualizing corporate greenhouse gas emissions. …