Financial Instruments and Exchange Act

If a registered sales representative falls under any of the following items, the Prime Minister may rescind the registration or order the sales representative to suspend their duties during a fixed period of no longer than two years:

the person comes to fall under any of Article 29-4, paragraph (1), item (ii), (a) through (i), or is discovered to have fallen under any of the items of Article 64-2, paragraph (1) at the time of registration;

the person violates a law or regulation in connection with business involving the undertaking of any act set forth in the items of Article 64, paragraph (1) (or in connection with the services of a registered financial institution, if it is a registered financial institution) or services incidental thereto within the financial instruments business, or the person is otherwise found to have committed an extremely inappropriate act in the course of duties as a sales representative; or

the person has had a registration rescinded pursuant to the provisions of item (iii) of the following Article during the last five years, and an act that the person performed during the period while the registration was in effect (limited to acts during the last five years) is discovered to have fallen under the preceding item.

Irrespective of the category of procedures for hearing statements of opinion under Article 13, paragraph (1) of the Administrative Procedure Act, before seeking to issue a disposition bassed on the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the Prime Minister must conduct a hearing.

If the Prime Minister decides to issue a disposition based on the provisions of paragraph (1), the Prime Minister must notify the applicant for registration of this in writing.

In the following cases, the Prime Minister deletes the registration of a sales representative from the register:

the Prime Minster rescinds the registration of the sales representative pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article;

the financial instruments business operator, etc. with which the sales representative is affiliated is dissolved or discontinues the business of performing the acts set forth in the items of Article 64, paragraph (1) (or discontinues the services of a registered financial institution, if it is a registered financial institution) within the financial instruments business;

it is confirmed that the person has stopped performing the duties of a sales representative due to having left the position or for other reasons; and

beyond what is set forth in the preceding three items, when so specified by Cabinet Office Order.

The Prime Minister may have an association (meaning an authorized financial instruments firms association or certified financial instruments business association prescribed in Article 78, paragraph (2); hereinafter the same applies in this Section) conduct the work involved in the registration prescribed in Article 64, Article 64-2, and the preceding three Articles (hereinafter referred to as "registration work" in this Article (excluding the items of paragraph (6)) and Article 64-9) in connection with the sales representative of a financial instruments business operator, etc. belonging to that association, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Office Order.

The Prime Minister may designate one association and have it do the registration work (excluding the work to which Article 64-5 pertains) in connection with the sales representative of a financial instruments business operator, etc. that does not belong to an association, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Office Order.

If the Prime Minister decides to have an association conduct registration work pursuant to the provisions of the preceding two paragraphs, the Prime Minister is not to conduct that registration work.

If an association decides to conduct registration work pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) or (2), it must specify the particulars of its registration of sales representatives in its articles of incorporation and obtain the authorization of the Prime Minister.

If an association that does registration work pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) or (2) makes a registration under Article 64, paragraph (5), makes a change to a registration in connection with a notification under Article 64-4, reaches a disposition under Article 64-5, paragraph (1) (excluding the deletion of a registration), or deletes a registration as under the preceding Article, it must notify the Prime Minister of this without delay, pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Office Order.

If there are two or more associations (including those set forth in the following items; the same applies in this paragraph) that conducts registration work under the provisions of paragraph (1) or (2) (excluding the cases in which the associations are only those set forth in the following items), each association is to promote information exchange between the associations and endeavor to provide necessary cooperation and information to other associations in order to ensure the appropriate implementation of the registration work:

an association that conducts the registration work prescribed in paragraph (1) under the provisions of that paragraph as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 66-25; and

a certified financial service intermediary business association, etc. prescribed in Article 78, paragraph (1) of the Act on the Provision of Financial Services and the Development of the Accessible Environment Thereto that conducts the registration work prescribed in that paragraph under the provisions of paragraph (1) or (2) of that Article.

If the sales representative of a financial instruments business operator, etc. which belongs to an association that does registration work pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) falls under any of the categories in Article 64-5, paragraph (1), items (i) through (iii) but the association does not take a measure prescribed in that paragraph, and the Prime Minister finds it to be necessary and appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors, the Prime Minister may order the association to take a measure prescribed in that paragraph.

Irrespective of the category of procedures for hearing statements of opinion under Article 13, paragraph (1) of the Administrative Procedure Act, before seeking to issue a disposition based on the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the Prime Minister must conduct a hearing.

If the Prime Minister decides to have an association conduct the registration work pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) or (2) or decides to no longer have an association conduct the registration work that it has been conducting pursuant to those provisions, the Prime Minister must issue public notice of this.

A financial instruments business operator, etc. seeking to have a sales representative registered must pay a registration fee to the State (if registering with an association pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) or (2) of the preceding Article, to the association) pursuant to the provisions of Cabinet Order.

The fee set forth in the preceding paragraph and paid to an association is the revenue of the relevant association.

A financial instruments business operator, etc. that objects to the inaction of an association that does the registration work under Article 64-7, paragraph (1) or (2) in connection with an application for registration under Article 64, paragraph (3), that objects to such an association's refusal of a registration under Article 64-2, paragraph (1), or that objects to the Article 64-5, paragraph (1) disposition of an association that does the registration work under Article 64-7, paragraph (1), may file a request for review with the Prime Minister. In this case, with regard to the application of the provisions of Article 25, paragraphs (2) and (3), Article 46, paragraphs (1) and (2), and Article 49, paragraph (3) of the Administrative Appeal Act (Act No. 68 of 2014), the Prime Minister is deemed to be the higher administrative agency of the association.