Japan to extend insider-trading rules to crypto markets

Japan's financial regulators are moving to extend insider trading rules to cryptocurrency markets, proposing legal changes that would give the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission new powers to investigate and penalize illicit crypto trading. The Financial Services Agency plans to finalize a regulatory framework by the end of 2025 and submit amendments to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act in the next parliamentary session to bring digital assets under the same enforcement standards that apply to securities.

Under the proposed framework, the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission would be empowered to probe suspicious crypto trades, recommend surcharge orders tied to profits from unlawful transactions, and refer serious cases for criminal prosecution. Regulators say the changes would explicitly ban trading on undisclosed or private information in crypto markets and enable penalties proportionate to illicit gains, moving oversight beyond the current mixture of self-regulation and payment-law treatment.

Officials point to persistent enforcement gaps under existing law. Insider trading provisions in the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act do not...