Foreign Exchange Control Law

Japanese: 外国為替管理法 - がいこくかわせかんりほう

…Abbreviated as the Foreign Exchange Law. This is the basic law on the regulation of foreign exchange and foreign trade in Japan. The Foreign Exchange Law was promulgated in 1949 as the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law, but at the time, the legislative policy was to prohibit foreign exchange transactions by private individuals in principle, and to allow them only when the prohibition was lifted by government ordinance. After that, the Foreign Exchange Law was changed to allow freedom in principle, and to regulate only in times of emergency. In other words, it was completely revised in 1979, and was significantly revised in 1987 and 1991, and further major revisions were made in 1997, such as removing the word "control" from the name of the law (enforced in April 1998), and has remained in its current form. …

From [Exchange Control]

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[History of exchange controls]
Looking at the history of foreign exchange control in Japan, it began with the Capital Flight Prevention Law, enacted in 1932, as the world economy was divided into blocs during the Great Depression of the 1930s and foreign exchange control became widespread. The law was abolished the following year in 1933, and the Foreign Exchange Control Law, which controlled foreign transactions other than capital transactions, was enacted in the same year. After World War II, the prewar Foreign Exchange Control Law became virtually meaningless, and Japan was placed under the supervision and regulation of the General Headquarters of the Allied Powers (GHQ). However, Japan's economic sovereignty was gradually recognized, and the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law (hereafter referred to as the Exchange Control Law) was enacted in 1949, followed by the Law Concerning Foreign Capital (Foreign Capital Law) as a special law in the following year of 1950, thus establishing the basic laws for foreign exchange control in the postwar period.

*Some of the terms mentioned in the Foreign Exchange Control Act are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

Japanese:

…外為（がいため）法と略称。日本の外国為替と外国貿易の規制に関する基本法である。外為法は，〈外国為替及び外国貿易管理法〉として1949年に公布されたが，当時は，私人の外国為替取引を原則として禁止し，政令で解除した場合にのみこれを認めるという立法政策をとっていた。その後，外為法は，原則自由，そして有事にのみ規制するという方向に改められた。すなわち，79年に全面的に改正され，87年および91年に大改正がなされ，さらに97年には法律名から〈管理〉が外されるなどの大幅改正(98年4月施行)を経て現在に至っている。…

【為替管理】より

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［為替管理の歴史］
　日本の為替管理の歴史をみると，その端緒は，1930年代の大不況期に世界経済のブロック化が進み為替管理が普及するなかで，32年に制定された〈資本逃避防止法〉である。翌33年同法は廃止され，資本取引以外の対外取引も管理する〈外国為替管理法〉が同年施行された。第2次大戦後は，戦前のこの外国為替管理法が事実上空文化するなかで，連合国総司令部(GHQ)の監督･規制下におかれたが，しだいに日本の経済的主権が認められるようになり，49年に〈外国為替及び外国貿易管理法〉(以下，為替管理法と略記)が，次いで翌50年にその特別法として〈外資に関する法律(外資法)〉が制定され，戦後における為替管理の基本法が整備された。…

※「外国為替管理法」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

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