The Asian Bankers Association (ABA) and the Association of Credit Rating Agencies in Asia (ACRAA) wish to invite fellow bank members, investors and associates to join the one-hour webinar on “Recent Developments in the Japanese and Taiwanese Capital Markets” to be held on 13 August 2021 at 02:00 PM, Taipei time.

The webinar will feature Atsushi Masuda, Counselor for International Affairs and Chief Sustainable Finance Analyst at Japan Credit Rating Agency and Andy Chang, Senior Director & Head of Financial Services Ratings at Taiwan Ratings Corp., who will explain recent developments in the Japanese and Taiwanese capital markets (25 minutes each section), followed by 15 minutes Q&A session.

The issues to be discussed are explained as follows:

I. Update on Japanese Capital Markets by Atsushi Masuda

The two fundamental topics in the context of the recent development of the capital market in Japan are:

(a) Reforming the Firewall Regulation on Banks and Securities Companies:
Since 1993, the institutional reform has enabled securities business by bank-affiliated security houses, but the firewall regulation has remained prohibiting customer information exchange between the banks and affiliated security houses. A reform proposal to abolish this firewall regulation is currently under discussion as priority agenda. This reform will introduce a sea change to de facto “universal banking” in the financial industry in Japan.

(b) Sustainable Bond Markets in Japan:
In October 2020 Prime Minister Suga announced the target of attaining carbon neutrality by 2050. New growth strategy adopted by the government in following December has set “sustainable financing” as the main instrument to materialize “Green Growth Strategy.” Recent market development and upcoming market agenda will be reviewed in the presentation.

II. Update on Taiwanese Capital Markets by Andy Chang

Taiwan’s capital market has shown strong sentiment despite the COVID-19 pandemic. We expect this positive sentiment to sustain over the next few quarters. Moreover, The Taiwan stock index reached a record high amid surging transaction volume that was fueled by the government’s stimulus program and prevailing low interest rate. The local bond market has also seen significant increase in corporate issuance. Given these developments we would like to examine several market traits:

(a) What structural change has there been amid growing prosperity, including in the mix of issuers and investors.

(b) Could the introduction of Islamic finance and sustainable finance contribute to further growth.

(c) How credit spreads will trend under Taiwan’s solid-2021 performance but normalized economic prospects for 2022.

(d) Can we expect an increase in rated bond issuances

(e) What are the prospects for the market’s future development given the abundance of domestic banking facilities.

We therefore encourage you and your colleagues to register for this webinar by clicking HERE.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

About ACRAA:

ACRAA was organized on 14 September 2001 at the Asian Development Bank headquarters, by 15 Asian credit rating agencies from 10 countries. As of July 2021, membership has increased to 27 members from 14 countries. An initiative of the ABA, ACRAA unites domestic credit rating agencies in a regional cooperative effort to develop and promote interaction and exchange of ideas, information, and skills among credit rating agencies in Asia to enhance their capabilities and their role of providing reliable market information. ACRAA also aims at promoting the adoption of best practices and common standards that ensure high quality and comparability of credit ratings throughout the region, following the highest norms of ethics and professional conduct.

Should you have questions at this stage, please write to aba@aba.org.tw