Japan to overhaul financial markets: regulators

TOKYO — Japan's regulators have announced the country's biggest financial market reforms in a decade amid hot competition in Asia to be the region's financial hub.

The Financial Services Agency on Friday unveiled "a plan to strengthen the competitiveness of financial and capital markets" with deregulation and liberalisation.

The agency plans to submit bills to parliament early next year to revise existing regulations, agency officials said.

The package represents the first comprehensive financial reforms by Japan since it launched "Big Bang" deregulations in 1996.

Under the latest package, Japan will remove a ban on creating a comprehensive financial market to handle the trading of stocks, bonds and financial and commodity derivatives in about two years.

The package also wants to cut barriers between banks, securities and insurance firms while calling on the government to upgrade financial infrastructure.

"I hope to implement the plan as soon as possible so that the competitiveness of Japanese markets will revive," Financial Services Minister Yoshimi Watanabe said according to Kyodo News.

Japanese financial markets face competition from centres such as Singapore and Shanghai, with investors warning Japanese regulations fall short of global standards.