The sharks are circling. With a large proportion of the estimated ¥1,500 trillion ($13.1 trillion) in Japanese household savings set to be unleashed on the investment trusts market, the number of unregistered and unregulated funds in Japan has grown rapidly. The country’s Financial Services Agency is worried that inexperienced amateur investors could get into trouble, and has included in its wide-ranging new Financial Instruments and Exchange Law (FIEL) measures designed to police the industry and curb aggressive sales tactics.
The law, which came into effect at the end of September, requires any collective investment scheme catering to amateur investors to register with...
