Innovation is afoot in the virtual currency space. While the government will encourage such innovation, it is also facing pressure to protect consumers and prevent money laundering. Even after the recent amendment of the Payment Services Act, regulatory issues remain to be addressed with respect to payment services.

With Japanese banks increasingly investing in funds, efficiently monitoring of fund investments and reengineering business processes to do so are urgent tasks. A number of banks have started addressing these challenges. Banks need to upgrade their management of fund investments on a step-by-step basis as warranted by the scale of their fund investments and their internal resources.