Nakajima Junichi, who assumed the position of Financial Services Agency Commissioner in July 2021, gave an interview to Nikkei on Aug. 3. Nakajima discussed the FSA’s plan to draw up guidance by the end of FY2021 to serve as a reference for financial institutions encouraging customers to invest in decarbonization efforts as a measure to address climate change. The FSA will develop a transition bond market to help companies reinforce their environmental initiatives. Nakajima also discussed a plan for speeding up response to the issues of money laundering and cybersecurity.

Instituting climate change measures is an important management issue for financial institutions. The new guidance will serve as a reference for decarbonization efforts and risk management. Nakajima commented that the FSA will “hold international discussions and dialogues with financial institutions” in drawing up the guidance and would like to take a “long-term” approach to enacting measures.

The financial risk of “stranded assets,” assets that lose much of their value as a result of drastic changes in the market or society, has become another issue. Nakajima said he would like financial institutions to “guide [companies] toward decarbonization through having dialogues and making suggestions to customers” and that he would like financial institutions to regard this situation as a business opportunity rather than an obstacle to lending. (Abridged)