You can see the rules and regulations in other jurisdictions.
Since the FIEA was amended in 2014, it became possible to obtain a more relaxed licence if the operator is only engaged in crowdfunding, which involves the collection of a small amount of funds via the internet.1
If a product or service falls within any of these securities (including tokens), then FIEA regulations apply. The FIEA also defines a 'collective investment scheme' (CIS) to regulate various types of funds (including foreign funds), regardless of their legal form, in addition to this list. CIS arrangements must have all of the following elements:
It is possible to consider CIS equity interests in investment-type crowdfunding (crowd-lending or peer-to-peer lending) and tokens.1
Registration under the FIEA is required for solicitation for the acquisition and management of CIS equity interests, subject to some exceptions.1
To solicit the acquisition of CIS equity interests, issuers of CIS equity interests must be registered as Type II financial instruments businesses.1
An investment management business in principle must be registered in order to manage the assets invested in the fund by CIS equity interest holders.1
In Japan, crowdfunding is classified into 'donation-type', 'purchase-type', 'loan-type' and 'investment-type' crowdfunding. A licence is not required to engage in crowdfunding as a business in cases such as 'donation-type' crowdfunding (where users donate funds without receiving any consideration in exchange) or 'purchase-type' crowdfunding (where users receive products or services in exchange for their funds).1
Loan-type crowdfunding (also known as crowd-lending or peer-to-peer lending) requires business operators to serve as intermediaries between borrowers and funders. As such, these operators must first register as moneylending businesses. Generally, they solicit funds from the public to furnish loans to the fund users by way of investments in a certain fund vehicle. To facilitate this process, operators need to be registered as Type II financial instruments businesses with regard to soliciting investments, alongside being registered as moneylenders providing the loans.1
Investment-type crowdfunding is divided into investments in (1) more liquid 'Paragraph 1 securities', such as stocks and share options, and (2) less liquid 'Paragraph 2 securities', such as fund equity interests.1
During 2014, the FIEA amended its regulations so that operators who only conduct crowdfunding where a small amount of funds is collected over the internet could obtain a more relaxed registration as a 'small-amount electronic public offering business'.1
Under the Real Estate Specified Joint Enterprise Act, funds have had to comply with additional rules if they wish to invest directly in real estate. With the revised Act coming into force in December 2017, funds were able to provide disclosure documents online, which mitigated the regulations.1
