Financial Services Agency (FSA)

This is the national administrative organization that is almost entirely responsible for financial administration. It is responsible for everything from protecting depositors, policyholders, and investors to stabilizing the financial system, responding to fintech, which combines finance and IT, and establishing a fair and transparent market. It was established in 2000 (Heisei 12) based on the FSA Establishment Act, by merging the Financial Supervisory Agency, which was its predecessor, and the Financial Planning Bureau of the Ministry of Finance (now the Ministry of Finance). With the reorganization of the central government in 2001, it became an external bureau of the Cabinet Office. It is headed by the Minister of State for Financial Affairs of the Cabinet Office, and is assisted by members of the Diet as Vice-Ministers and Parliamentary Vice-Ministers. The head of the administrative side is the Commissioner of the FSA, and it has the Policy Bureau, Planning and Market Bureau, Supervision Bureau, Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission, Certified Public Accountants and Audit Oversight Board, etc. Its functions include planning and drafting financial policies and systems, inspecting and supervising private financial institutions such as banks, insurance companies, securities companies, and non-banks, issuing bank licenses, and deciding on the injection of public funds. It is also responsible for creating and monitoring trading rules for financial products, formulating corporate accounting standards, and supervising certified public accountants and auditing firms. It is also responsible for developing laws to deal with fintech, including crypto assets, and dealing with money laundering. In order to respond to globalization, it participates in bilateral and multilateral financial consultations and helps create international financial rules. In July 2018, the first large-scale organizational reform since its establishment was carried out, abolishing the Inspection Bureau, which was a symbol of bad loan disposal, and the newly established Policy Bureau handles inspection functions, with inspectors entering financial institutions to conduct inspections. If a problem is discovered, it will issue business improvement orders or business suspension orders, as well as administrative measures such as revoking licenses and registrations. If an inspection is intentionally avoided, criminal charges can be filed, with individuals facing imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 3 million yen, and corporations facing a fine of up to 200 million yen.

Since the Meiji era, the Ministry of Finance has been in charge of financial administration, along with finance. However, after the 1995 housing loan company disposal problem and the problem of excessive entertainment by Ministry of Finance bureaucrats, the Ministry of Finance was criticized for having too much authority and for creating conflicts of interest by combining finance and financial administration, and the idea of ​​separating finance and finance emerged. In response to this criticism, the Financial Supervisory Agency was launched in June 1998 by separating the inspection and supervision department of financial institutions that had been the Ministry of Finance. Then, in July 2000, ahead of the reorganization of the central government, the Financial Services Agency was born by absorbing the Ministry of Finance's financial system planning and drafting function. The Financial Services Agency started with a strict separation of finance and finance, with the establishment of a "no return rule" that limited personnel exchanges at the director-general level with the Ministry of Finance, but since then, there have been moves to weaken the principle of "separation of finance and finance," such as relaxing the "no return rule."

[Takeshi Yano February 18, 2019]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

金融行政をほぼ一元的に担う国の行政組織。預金者、保険契約者、投資家らの保護から、金融システムの安定、金融とIT（情報技術）を融合するフィンテックへの対応、公正・透明な市場の確立までを担う。金融庁設置法に基づき2000年（平成12）、前身の金融監督庁と大蔵省（現、財務省）の金融企画局が統合して発足した。2001年の中央省庁再編に伴い、内閣府の外局となった。内閣府特命担当（金融担当）国務大臣がトップで、国会議員が副大臣、大臣政務官として補佐する。事務方トップは金融庁長官で、総合政策局、企画市場局、監督局、証券取引等監視委員会、公認会計士・監査審査会などがある。金融に関する政策・制度の企画・立案や、銀行、保険、証券会社、ノンバンクなど民間金融機関の検査・監督のほか、銀行免許の交付、公的資金の投入決定などの機能をもつ。金融商品の取引ルールづくりとその監視、企業会計基準の策定、公認会計士・監査法人の監督なども所管する。暗号資産を含むフィンテックに対応した法整備や資金洗浄などへの対応も担っている。グローバル化に対応するため、二国間あるいは多国間の金融協議に参加し、国際的な金融ルールづくりに加わる。2018年7月に、発足以来初の大規模な組織改正を実施し、不良債権処理の象徴であった検査局を廃止し、新たに設置された総合政策局が検査機能を手がけ、検査官が金融機関に立ち入って検査を行う。問題が発覚した場合、業務改善命令や業務停止命令を出すほか、免許や登録の取消しなどの行政処分を行う。意図的に検査を忌避した場合は刑事告発をすることができ、個人は1年以下の懲役または300万円以下の罰金、法人は2億円以下の罰金となる。

　金融行政は明治以来、財政とともに一貫して大蔵省が担当してきた。しかし1995年（平成7）に住宅金融専門会社（住専）処理問題や大蔵官僚の過剰接待問題が起きると、大蔵省の権限が大きすぎるうえ、財政と金融行政をあわせもつことで利益相反が起きていると批判され、両者を分離すべきとする「財政・金融分離論」が台頭した。この批判を受け1998年6月、大蔵省が担っていた金融機関の検査・監督部門を分離して金融監督庁が発足した。その後、中央省庁の再編を前に2000年7月、大蔵省の金融制度の企画・立案機能をも吸収して金融庁が誕生した。大蔵省との局長級人事交流を制限する「ノーリターンルール」を設けて「財政・金融分離」を徹底してスタートしたが、その後「ノーリターンルール」が緩和されるなど「財政・金融分離」原則をなし崩しにする動きが出ている。

［矢野　武　2019年2月18日］

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