GMO Aozora Net Bank has reached a major milestone as an internet-only bank in June 2025, with the number of corporate account openings exceeding 200,000 and deposit balances surpassing 1 trillion yen. GMO Aozora Net Bank began its internet banking business in July 2018, aiming to be an online
Fukuoka Financial Group has established the "CVC Fund No. 2" with a total fund size of 3 billion yen, jointly with SBI Investment and FFG Venture Business Partners, in order to strengthen investment functions aimed at realizing alliances with promising startup companies.
AN Venture Partners (ANV), a global biotech venture capital firm, announced the final close of its first fund, AN Venture Partners I, achieving its target of USD 200m (JPY 29bn), one of the largest Japan-focused biotech venture capital funds to date, and also one of the largest first-time biotech venture
Hokan Group, which aims to become an Industry Contributor by integrating technology and solutions, has acquired shares of Frich, making it a subsidiary. This marks Hokan Group's first M&A and is positioned as an important strategic move for future growth. Overview and Background of This Transaction
Nissay Asset Management announced that its generative AI platform "NAM-GPT" has won the "Model Buy-Side Award 2025 Digital Transformation and Generative AI Utilization Category" hosted by Celent. Celent is a member of GlobalData, and is a global research and advisory firm focused on the financial services
Jamm, which aims to realize a free payment society, has completed a fundraising of 496 million yen through third-party allocation with ANRI and XTech Ventures as co-leads, and DG Daiwa Ventures and Riku Sugie (former Paidy CEO) as participants. About "Digital Cash Payment! Jamm" "Digital Cash Payment!
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
The 55th General Meeting of the Financial System Council and the 43rd Joint Meeting of the Financial System Subcommittee, jointly held on Wednesday, June 25, reviewed the current status of and the regulatory framework for crypto assets in Japan. The regulatory approach aims to balance user protection with innovation promotion,
The "Grand Design and Action Plan for a New Form of Capitalism, 2025 Revised Edition," was approved at a Cabinet meeting on June 13, 2025. It is a comprehensive policy blueprint from the Japanese government outlining its strategy to fundamentally reshape the nation's economy. It presents
The "New AEON Pay" has been launched, combining the legacy AEON Pay and WAON electronic money services, and creating a unified mobile payment platform. Key highlights include: * Expansion to 4.3 million merchant locations (1.4x increase) * Support for approximately 180 local communities through donation features * New promotional
The Japan Cryptoasset Business Association (JCBA) has presented its business report for Fiscal Year 2024 (from April 2024 to March 2025), a period marked by significant transformation and strategic advancement for both the global and domestic digital asset industries. The report (in Japanese) details the association's extensive activities
The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission (SESC) has submitted three recommendations for the strengthening of market surveillance functions to the Prime Minister and the Commissioner of the FSA: * Expanding insider trading regulations to cover more types of related parties * Strengthening administrative monetary penalties by increasing amounts and expanding scope to