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Japan pledges a food tax cut without deficit bonds
Japan tells the IMF it will cut food taxes for two years without deficit bonds, while Mitsubishi Electric agrees to sell half its auto unit and Dai-ichi Life confirms a proposal, not a deal.
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Japan's Food Tax Pledge
Japan pledges two-year food tax cut at IMF, financed without deficit bonds
Japan's governor at the IMF told the fund's policy committee that the country will cut the consumption tax rate on food and beverages for two years, with income-targeted benefits on a full scale from fiscal 2029 and no deficit-financing bonds to pay for it.
What changed: Satsuki Katayama, Governor of the IMF for Japan, set out the pledge in Japan's statement to the International Monetary and Financial Committee's fifty-fourth meeting, dated October 17, 2026. It is a statement of policy intent to an international forum, not an enacted law, and it gives no rate, start date or cost for the cut. The statement frames the measures as relief for "low- and middle-income workers" and says they "will be financed without relying on deficit-financing bonds." It also commits Japan to "reduce its reliance on supplementary budgets and ensure that regular programs are funded in the initial budget" and to "place the government debt to GDP ratio on a firm declining path."
Why it matters: Japan presents the plan as part of its "transition to a world with inflation and positive interest rates" and says the aim is to maintain market confidence while achieving both growth and fiscal sustainability. The IMFC chair's statement, from Saudi Arabia's Minister Mohammed Aljadaan, is a separate text. It records that members agreed fiscal vulnerabilities "should be urgently addressed and consolidation efforts advanced," and it lists "rising sovereign bond yields in systemic economies" among factors that could amplify macro-financial vulnerabilities. Japan's pledges are its own, not the committee's.
What to watch: The chair's statement says the next IMFC meeting is expected in April 2027 in Washington, D.C.
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Deals and Stakes
Mitsubishi Electric agrees to sell half its auto unit to Hon Hai's investment arm, with a ¥100bn impairment due
Mitsubishi Electric will sell 50% of its auto-equipment subsidiary to Hon Hai's investment arm for ¥115bn, with the share transfer planned for October 2027 and a ¥100bn impairment expected in the year to March 2027.
What changed: The binding share transfer agreement with Lin Yin International Investment, the investment management company of Hon Hai Precision Industry (Foxconn), was signed on 16 October 2026. Mitsubishi Electric Mobility becomes a 50-50 joint venture. The unit has about 6,400 employees and reported standalone revenue of ¥657.6bn for the last fiscal year; the wider auto-equipment business had ¥875.6bn on a consolidated basis.
The number: Mitsubishi Electric expects an impairment loss of about ¥100bn in its consolidated results, which follow IFRS, for the year to March 2027. In standalone accounts for the year to March 2028 it expects a gain of about ¥80bn on the sale of affiliate shares. The two items sit in different accounts and different years, and the company does not present them as offsetting.
What to watch: The company plans to publish its consolidated forecast for the year to March 2027 on 30 October 2026. Its target for the unit is revenue of ¥1tn or more by fiscal 2030. The presentation names three areas where the unit would contribute to Hon Hai's EV platform: autonomous driving, the electric powertrain and in-vehicle intelligence.
Dai-ichi Life confirms non-binding proposal to Challenger, but no binding deal decided
Dai-ichi Life Group confirmed that its Australian subsidiary, TAL Daiichi Life Australia, submitted a non-binding proposal to Challenger's board, and said it has decided nothing on a legally binding transaction.
What changed: In a notice dated October 19, 2026, headed "regarding certain media reports", the Tokyo-listed insurer (TSE Prime, 8750) said it had not announced the reports itself but confirmed the core point. Challenger is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: CGF). The confirmed step is a proposal to the target's board, not an agreed deal or a tender offer.
What to watch: Dai-ichi says it will disclose matters "in a timely and appropriate manner" if any fact that should be made public is decided. A decision to move toward a binding transaction, which the notice says has not been made, is the marker.
BASE's top shareholder lifts stake to 26.89% and says he aims for more than 30% of votes
BASE's largest shareholder holds 26.89% after four October market purchases, and says he will seek a nominating-committee structure once SBINM's tender offer ends.
What changed: A large-shareholding change report filed on 19 October 2026 lifts his stake in the e-commerce platform operator to 26.89% from 24.52%: 31,718,186 shares against 117,937,657 outstanding as of 9 October. The four purchases were 3,288,000 shares on 2 October, 1,412,000 on 5 October, 627,000 on 7 October and 2,175,000 on 9 October.
The move: He says he aims to acquire more than 30% of voting rights, and that any move to 30% or more on a voting basis will comply with the takeover-bid rules. The 26.89% is a share-count ratio, so the voting-basis target is a separate measure. He is dropping his earlier policy of not exercising voting rights and may vote against individual directors, citing doubts about internal controls that are his own assertions, not established findings. Once the tender offer launched by SBINM on 31 August 2026 ends, he plans to propose that BASE move to a company with nominating and other committees. He still backs the capital and business alliance SBI Holdings and BASE signed on 28 August 2026.
By the numbers: Total funding for the holding is put at ¥12.95bn, of which ¥3.11bn is his own funds and ¥9.84bn comes from margin trading with Tachibana Securities.
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Finance Policy Watch
Japan's on-chain finance forum targets early-2027 roadmap as ministries start separate studies
The Financial Services Agency's new on-chain finance forum, chaired by the financial services minister, wants an interim summary and a public-private roadmap by early 2027, while the Finance Ministry, Digital Agency, Bank of Japan and bankers' association each have their own studies planned or under way.
What changed: At the first meeting on 30 September 2026, the minister said the forum should compile an interim summary based on the ministries' studies, plus a roadmap. The FSA plans two study groups, one on the policy environment for on-chain finance and one on the sound use of AI. A Finance Ministry study group of outside experts on putting government bonds on-chain is due to start in October, and the FSA plans a conference called Asia Day 2027 for February.
The number: The FSA said stablecoin issuance is now about $310bn, of which 83% is dollar-denominated. It cited a BIS survey of 90 jurisdictions in which commercial banks in about one-third have some tokenized-deposit initiative.
What to watch: Members pressed on timing. One said the schedule is hard to see and should be set out quickly, and another urged small, fast starts given the limited time to the early-2027 target.
Japan says currency swap extension with South Korea is decided
Japan's finance minister said the currency-swap extension with South Korea was decided in Bangkok talks, though the ministry's summary gives no size or term.
What changed: Speaking at a press conference on October 16, the minister said the extension was settled with South Korea's new finance minister, who is also deputy prime minister, during the trip for the G20 and G7 finance ministers and central bank governors meetings.
Read-through: The India outcome was softer. The two sides had "almost agreed" to raise their talks to a formal bilateral dialogue between finance ministers, and Indonesia also wants such a format. Asked about volatility in stocks, currencies and bonds, the minister said the need to watch markets with a high degree of tension had been stressed repeatedly. Thailand's finance minister is due to visit in November leading an investment committee.
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Company Disclosures
GMO Internet plans ¥26.1bn GPU-cloud build in Hokkaido, with servers due from August 2027
GMO Internet's board approved a planned ¥26.1bn purchase of up to 116 Nvidia B300 servers and a data center in Ishikari, Hokkaido, with acquisitions scheduled from August 2027.
What changed: The board resolution is dated 19 October 2026. The 116 counts servers, not individual GPU chips, and the roughly ¥26.1bn price also covers peripheral equipment and data-center construction work. GMO cites the supply position and demand for its GMO GPU Cloud service.
Why it matters: This is a plan to add capacity, not capacity that exists today. GMO judges the effect on its consolidated results for the year ending December 2026 to be minor. Nvidia is the counterparty for development and manufacturing, and GMO takes part in the NVIDIA Partner Network. Acquisition is planned sequentially from August 2027.
Takashimaya lifts 2031 payout target to 50% and DOE to 5%
Takashimaya now targets a dividend payout ratio of at least 50% and dividend on equity of at least 5% for the 2031 fiscal year, up from 30% and 2.5%, with ROE of 10% or more; buyback policy waits for the next mid-term plan.
What changed: In a question-and-answer summary of its October 15 interim results briefing, the department store operator set those targets. They are targets, not payouts. It also raised its 2031 business-profit target to ¥80bn to ¥85bn from ¥75bn to ¥80bn, attributing the increase to at least ¥3bn in net gains from tighter group integration plus profit growth in overseas businesses centred on finance and Vietnam.
Details: Takashimaya had set a total payout ratio of 70% and withdrew it after buying back and cancelling its convertible bonds. It says it still keeps roughly 70% in mind, with a concrete policy including buybacks to come in the next mid-term plan.
Context: At home, higher procurement costs, notably utilities and outsourcing, lifted full-year selling and administrative costs by ¥700mn from the April plan. Planned cost savings are ¥4.3bn, against ¥4.5bn in April.
Ymirlink says intruders pulled about nine million records from five email-service systems
Ymirlink estimates that about 9 million cumulative records, including email addresses, were extracted from five systems behind its email delivery service.
What happened: A staff member found the unauthorized access in the early hours of Friday, October 16, 2026. The company's review of access logs shows the attacker exploited a program vulnerability, obtained service credentials held by support and quality-control staff, installed a malicious program and output database data, then used those credentials to try to authenticate into other systems.
The number: The 9 million is the company's estimate of cumulative records, not a count of unique individuals, and details of the output are still under investigation.
What to watch: Ymirlink cut the affected server off the network, applied a fix, notified investigative authorities and will investigate with outside experts. It is reviewing the effect on results for the year ending December 2026 and promises a further report when new facts emerge.
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