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Japan Post Bank heads for the top of Matsui's share register
Japan Post Bank is set to become Matsui Securities' largest shareholder, Mitsubishi Corp has authorized up to ¥1tn of buybacks, and two stablecoin firms want the FSA to loosen a ¥1mn transfer cap.
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lead
Japan Post Bank Plants a Flag at Matsui
Japan Post Bank agrees to buy 19.99% of Matsui Securities' votes from founding family's holding company
Japan Post Bank will become Matsui Securities' largest shareholder, buying 51,489,700 shares from the founding family's asset-management company in an off-market trade planned to close on December 28, 2026.
What changed: The stake is 19.86% of issued shares but 19.99% of voting rights, because Matsui's voting figure excludes shares that carry no votes. The family company's holding falls from 96,706,100 shares, or 37.55% of voting rights, to 45,216,400 shares, or 17.56%, which moves it to second place. Japan Post Bank calls the result roughly 20% of Matsui's voting rights and expects Matsui to become an equity-method affiliate. Matsui's notice gives no purchase price.
The move: Matsui must get the bank's prior written consent before issuing shares or taking other action that could dilute its voting ratio, subject to exceptions, and only while the ratio is at least 15%. The bank needs Matsui's consent to buy or sell more shares, with exceptions where law leaves it no choice on a sale. The two agreed that the bank will respect Matsui's listing and independent management, and Matsui assesses the effect on its governance as limited.
Why it matters: The business alliance has four parts, with details to be settled separately: customer referrals, including active investors from the bank's roughly 120 million accounts; joint campaigns; sales of products from Japan Post Asset Management, a bank subsidiary launched in April 2026; and introductions of Matsui as an underwriting syndicate member to portfolio companies of venture funds where the asset manager is general partner. The bank says it does not currently handle stock or FX trading despite its customer base.
What to watch: The share transfer and the alliance are both due to start on December 28, 2026. Both companies call the effect on results for the year ending March 2027 minor at this point.
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Policy and the Yen
Stablecoin firms press Japan's FSA to lift ¥1mn transfer cap as banks urge caution
Two of three industry presenters at the FSA's 2 November study group on digital and decentralized finance want the ¥1mn per-transfer limit on stablecoins loosened, while the Japanese Bankers Association urges extreme caution. The agency notes that the companies' materials reflect their own views, not the FSA's.
What happened: JPYC Inc. says the limit bites at issuance. In its example, a municipality converting ¥5bn into JPYC to pay ¥50,000 to each of 100,000 residents would need 5,000 separate issuances, because a bulk issuance counts as one remittance. SBI VC Trade asks the agency to scrap the limit and its buyback rule first for foreign instruments that must meet equivalence with Japan's regime.
The catch: The bankers' association says scrapping or easing the limit while leaving the second-type framework unchanged deserves extremely cautious consideration. Its reasons include collateral that can lag a surge in issuance by more than 10 calendar days when holidays intervene, repayment after a provider's failure that could take at least 170 days, and a possible digital run on 24-hour instruments. The FSA secretariat's paper asks members only how to think about the limit. SBI VC Trade also reports customer stablecoin loans of about ¥10.7bn, in a business the secretariat says has no comprehensive regulation.
Katayama says US-Japan joint statement on the yen still stands, as currency hovers near ¥157
Finance Minister Katayama said Japan will act on disorderly or excessively speculative currency moves under its joint statement with Washington, declined to call ¥157 right or wrong, and promised sharper tax-revenue estimates for the next budget.
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Buybacks and Licensing Deals
Mitsubishi Corporation authorizes buyback of up to ¥1tn through July 2027
Mitsubishi Corporation's board authorized market purchases of up to ¥1tn or 420 million shares between 5 November 2026 and 31 July 2027, with all repurchased shares to be cancelled on 31 August 2027.
Nxera's AbbVie licence fixes 2026 guidance at the top of its old range
Nxera Pharma will receive $100mn upfront from AbbVie for an exclusive global licence to NXE0033744, an oral EP4 receptor agonist in development for inflammatory bowel disease, and has fixed its 2026 guidance at the top of its previous ranges.
What changed: Revenue guidance is now ¥48.8bn, core operating profit ¥22.8bn and operating profit ¥15.7bn, against ranges that ran from ¥33.8bn, ¥7.8bn and ¥0.7bn respectively. Nxera converts the upfront payment at ¥157.80 to the dollar, or about ¥15.8bn. It is also entitled to development and sales milestones of up to $1.37bn plus tiered royalties. The milestone figure is a ceiling, and the notice gives no royalty rates or triggers.
The catch: The deal needs customary antitrust clearances, including under the US Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. Nxera expects to book the $100mn as fourth-quarter revenue if the deal closes by 31 December 2026 and its auditor agrees to the accounting treatment, and the forecast rests on both assumptions. The drug is still a clinical candidate: a phase 1 trial has been completed.
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Earnings and Guidance Changes
NTT raises its annual forecast even as first-half operating profit falls 12.2%
NTT's first-half operating profit fell 12.2% to ¥830.1bn on record revenue, but it raised its annual operating profit forecast to ¥1.73tn and lifted capex by ¥43bn to improve mobile network quality.
Tokyo Seimitsu lifts annual guidance on prober demand, plans to double capacity by 2028
Tokyo Seimitsu lifted its operating profit guide 2.3% to ¥45bn after semiconductor-equipment orders rose 86% in the half year, and said it intends to double prober production capacity by around the middle of fiscal 2028.
Astellas lifts profit guide as core margin heads for 30%
Astellas lifted its full-year core operating profit forecast to ¥700bn from ¥620bn after first-half sales rose 23.4%, though currency added ¥41.2bn to core profit and the new guide assumes a weaker yen than April's.
Yamato cuts revenue forecast by ¥23bn but holds its profit target on cost savings
Yamato Holdings cut its full-year revenue forecast by ¥23bn to ¥1.895tn on weaker large-customer volumes, but kept its ¥42bn operating profit target and says cost optimization will make up the gap after an interim operating loss.
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Quick Hits
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Sumitomo Bakelite lifts profit guidance as chip-materials sales jump 37.7%
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JR Kyushu cuts net profit forecast by ¥4.6bn after quake, keeps operating guide
Read moreJR Kyushu expects about ¥6.7bn of lost fares and a ¥9bn special loss on rail assets from the Kumamoto earthquake, and has cut its net profit forecast to ¥47.0bn while leaving sales and operating profit guidance unchanged.
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Japan proposes longer Noto quake job-retention subsidy, with lower rates for new entrants from 2027
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Japan drafts lithium battery waste rules for storage signs, ledgers and manifests
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Japan proposes easing photo and renovation rules for its Anshin R Housing used-home mark
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PayPay's net profit falls 75% on a tax-gain base effect as revenue climbs 28%
Read morePayPay's quarterly net profit fell 75% to ¥18.4bn against a year-earlier quarter that included a ¥57.5bn one-off tax gain, while revenue rose 28% and bank loans grew 37% to ¥1.4tn.