June 6, 2017 @ 8:09 am By Jonathan Nieh  |  

According to an article published on Bloomberg, the increased frenzy over bitcoin in Japan is causing some spill-over effects on some of the country’s small-cap stock market companies. The companies being affected are all related to bitcoin in some way and, as the article speculates,… Read More

May 18, 2017 @ 9:19 am By JD Alois  |  

Paytm has announced that SoftBank has invested in their parent company One97 Communications Limited. The $1.6 billion commitment is said to be the single largest funding round from a single investor in India. Crowdfund Insider reported this past week that Paytm was discussing an investment… Read More

May 15, 2017 @ 7:31 am By JD Alois  |  

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFG) has announced a “functional realignment” of its group subsidiaries. The realignment includes a name change from The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd to MUFG Bank, Ltd. (subject to regulatory approval).  The company said they had two aims: adapting to domestic… Read More

April 20, 2017 @ 3:43 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Japanese investment bank Nomura has set up a fintech program in India, inviting entrepreneurs in Mumbai to build new tools for capital markets. The Voyager partnership aims to give Indian fintech specialists access to Nomura’s resources at the Mumbai innovation centre, enabling them to test their ideas using… Read More

April 8, 2017 @ 4:34 pm By Jonathan Nieh  |  

Only a few weeks since the SEC denied two separate bitcoin ETF applications, there may be some good news coming out of Japan for supporters of Bitcoin. On April 1, a new law went into effect in Japan allowing for the country’s first officially recognized… Read More

April 2, 2017 @ 10:44 am By JD Alois  |  

  According to a recent article in TechinAsia, 52% of Japan’s personal assets, or more than $15 trillion, are held as cash. That is incredible.  But it is also incredible in the fact that holding cash, when most current accounts pay less than inflation, means… Read More

March 27, 2017 @ 12:06 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

WorldRemit, announced on Monday it is launching its online money transfer services in Japan. This news comes less than a week after the company announced its launch in Hawaii and customers in Japan will now be able to send money to family and friends worldwide, using… Read More

March 13, 2017 @ 9:23 am By JD Alois  |  

Less than a week after Japan inked an agreement to partner with the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) in Japan has announced a cooperation framework with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Similar to other existing arrangements by MAS,… Read More

March 9, 2017 @ 8:29 am By JD Alois  |  

The Financial Services Agency of Japan (JFSA) and the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have announced a “Co-operation Framework” to support innovative Fintech firms. This “Exchange of Letters” between the JFSA and the FCA is intended to provide a regulatory referral system for “Innovator Businesses”… Read More

January 11, 2017 @ 7:49 am By Jessica Pham  |  

Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has cleared the Japan Exchange Group (JPX) to use blockchain in trading, according to Nikkei Asian Review.  Such fintech tools might make trading more efficient.  JPX operates the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), the largest stock exchange in Asia and fourth largest… Read More

October 24, 2016 @ 4:42 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Mizuho Bank recently announced the opening of its innovation center, which will be located in the Fintech Center of Tokyo Finolab. The company stated the center would be jointly operated by Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd., Dentsu Inc., and Information Services International–Dentsu, Ltd. Mizuho reported that… Read More

August 23, 2016 @ 12:05 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the central bank may finally apply fintech to its future operations  given its growing influence on global payments, settlements and financial services, reported Reuters. Signaling that the BOJ is ready to initiate research to promote Japanese fintech given it has “various… Read More

August 2, 2016 @ 7:28 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week Paidly announced a $15 million Series B funding round. The Fintech firm is based in Japan and provides payment services via your smartphone. Paidly basically turns your phone into a credit card type service. Just submit your email address, phone number and create a PIN… Read More

July 12, 2016 @ 10:57 am By JD Alois  |  

Cloud Lending Solutions and Fujitsu have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on a new partnership to provide services in Japan and other ASEAN countries. The arrangement is pretty significant for Cloud Lending as it provides an established partner to promote and develop online banking… Read More

May 10, 2016 @ 10:09 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Tuesday, Crowdcube #FundedClub member, Cell Therapy (CTL), announced it has received £12.5M in a Japan Rights Deal. The Welsh biotech company, co-founded by Nobel Prize winner Sir Martin Evans, raised £689,246 through the equity crowdfunding platform to help cell-based regeneration medicine for heart trauma get to… Read More

May 3, 2016 @ 11:51 am By Erin Hobey  |  

MobiKwik, a Gurgaon, India based mobile wallet company, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding led by Japanese GMO Payment Gateway and Taiwanese fabless semiconductor company MediaTek, according to a company press release. The round was part of Series C round raised last month, which included participation from its existing investors… Read More

March 28, 2016 @ 10:20 pm By JD Alois  |  

While the rest of the developed world, and some of the developing world, is rushing to embrace the Fintech revolution Japan is mired in the financial past.  Japan possesses the worlds 3rd largest economy as measured by nominal GDP yet they have done little when… Read More

March 16, 2016 @ 4:26 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

This week, Japanese production studio Ys Net announced that it has created a new Chinese website for its Kickstarter success project, Shenmue III. The company, which was founded in 2008 by well-known video game developer Yu Suzuki, revealed that it will be accepting contributions through the Chinese payment… Read More

March 16, 2016 @ 11:03 am By JD Alois  |  

The Asia-Pacific Alternative Finance Benchmarking Report has just been published and it highlights the largest region in the world for disruptive finance. Entitled, “Harnessing Potential”, this is the first report for the region and has been created by a partnership of researchers, including the Cambridge… Read More

March 14, 2016 @ 11:56 am By JD Alois  |  

In response to the rapid increase of Fintech in Asia, a new conference has been launched to address the fast changing environment for financial firms. The 2016  Fintech Law in Asia Conference is scheduled to take place at Nagoya University in Japan this April. The… Read More