Japan trust business license stack
ConfidenceLikelyUpdated2026-07-29Review by2026-10-27Sources9Machine-translatedOriginal (JA)
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Overview
Japanese trust activity is not controlled by one generic “trust license.” The practical stack is assembled from three statutes and several registration routes: the Trust Act (信託法) sets the private-law relationship; the Trust Business Act (信託業法, Act No. 154 of 2004) governs who may act as a trustee as a business; and the Act on Concurrent Operation of Trust Business by Financial Institutions (兼営法 / 金融機関の信託業務の兼営等に関する法律, Act No. 43 of 1943) lets banks conduct trust business with FSA authorization. On top sit the trust-agency and beneficiary-right sale routes, where the latter crosses into the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.
Use this page with JapanFG legal / financial licenses, the sibling bank-license / BaaS boundary, securities license stack (for the beneficiary-right route), insurance license and solvency route, and the trust-bank entity pages SMTH, Custody Bank, and Master Trust Bank when a company page needs to say what kind of regulated trust role it is actually playing.
This page is a public-source research route, not legal advice. A live product or transaction must still be checked against the latest FSA list, e-Gov law text, the FSA trust-company supervisory guideline, and counsel / regulator confirmation.
The three-statute foundation
| Statute | Question it answers | FinWiki reading |
|---|---|---|
| Trust Act (信託法) | What is the private-law trust relationship between settlor, trustee, and beneficiary? | The substantive law of the trust itself; it does not by itself license anyone to act as a trustee as a business. |
| Trust Business Act (信託業法, 2004) | Who may accept trusts as a business, and under what entry control? | The licensing / registration spine: operating-type vs management-type trust companies, agency, and conduct rules. |
| Concurrent Operation Act (兼営法, 1943) | How may a bank or other financial institution also run trust business? | The route by which “trust banks” exist; a bank obtains authorization to operate trust + concurrent businesses. |
Sources: ^[FSA trust-business hub and supervisory guideline: https://www.fsa.go.jp/policy/shintaku/index.html; https://www.fsa.go.jp/common/law/guide/shintaku.pdf; Trust Companies Association of Japan legal overview: https://www.shintaku-kyokai.or.jp/trust/more/law.html.]
The trichotomy (信託法 / 信託業法 / 兼営法) is the standard framing used by the Trust Companies Association of Japan; keep them separate when reading a page.
Regime Map
| Activity / role | Primary license or registration | Legal anchor | Typical entities | Verification source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accept trusts as a business, with discretionary management of trust assets | Operating-type trust company — license (免許) | Trust Business Act | Independent operating-type trust companies | FSA “信託会社” list; FSA trust supervisory guideline |
| Accept trusts as a business, administration only (no discretionary management) | Management-type trust company — registration (登録) | Trust Business Act | Real-estate / asset-administration management-type trust companies | FSA “信託会社（管理型）” list; supervisory guideline §5 |
| Bank or other financial institution running trust business concurrently | Authorization (認可) to conduct trust business + concurrent businesses | Concurrent Operation Act (兼営法) | Trust banks: SMTH, megabank trust arms, Custody Bank, Master Trust Bank | FSA “信託兼営金融機関” list; supervisory guideline §11 |
| Act as agent / intermediary to conclude trust contracts for a trust company | Trust contract agency business — registration (登録) | Trust Business Act | Banks, brokers, and distributors acting for a trust company | Local Finance Bureau “信託契約代理店” registry |
| Sell or intermediate trust beneficiary rights | Type II Financial Instruments Business (beneficiary rights are deemed securities) | Financial Instruments and Exchange Act | Real-estate beneficiary-right dealers, fund distributors | securities license stack; FSA FIBO list |
| Custody / asset-administration trust at scale | Trust-bank route under 兼営法 (administration / custody / fund servicing) | Concurrent Operation Act + Trust Business Act | Custody Bank, Master Trust Bank | FSA “信託兼営金融機関” list; entity disclosure |
Sources: ^[FSA trust-business hub: https://www.fsa.go.jp/policy/shintaku/index.html; FSA trust-company supervisory guideline: https://www.fsa.go.jp/common/law/guide/shintaku.pdf; FSA licensed-operator portal: https://www.fsa.go.jp/menkyo/menkyo.html; Kanto Local Finance Bureau trust-agency registry route: https://lfb.mof.go.jp/kantou/kinyuu/pagekthp00400063.html.]
The operating-type vs management-type split
The decisive line inside the Trust Business Act is whether the trustee exercises discretionary management of the trust property:
- Operating-type trust company (運用型信託会社) — manages / invests trust assets at its own discretion. Higher risk to settlors / beneficiaries, so entry is by license (免許), with capital, fit-and-proper, and business-method scrutiny.
- Management-type trust company (管理型信託会社) — only administers assets under the settlor’s or a third party’s instruction, with no discretionary management. Lower risk, so entry is by registration (登録) rather than license.
A bank that wants the full trust toolkit does not become a trust company at all — it obtains 兼営法 authorization and operates as a trust bank, which is why “trust bank” is an entity / operating-company concept while “trust company” is the standalone Trust-Business-Act licensee.
Source-of-Truth Stack
| Layer | Primary source | What it proves | What it does not prove |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statute | e-Gov law text for the Trust Act, Trust Business Act, and Concurrent Operation Act | The current legal category and defined terms. | Whether a named company holds the status today. |
| Registration | FSA “免許・許可・登録等を受けている事業者一覧” (信託会社 / 信託兼営金融機関) and Local Finance Bureau trust-agency registries | Whether a firm appears in the checked official registry category and the as-of date. | Full product scope or scale. |
| Supervisory view | FSA “信託会社等に関する総合的な監督指針” | Public supervisory expectations for entry review, management-type companies, and concurrent-operation banks. | A private regulator opinion on a specific product. |
| Self-regulation / industry | Trust Companies Association of Japan (信託協会) | The 信託法 / 信託業法 / 兼営法 framing and industry practice. | Statutory licensing by itself. |
| Product disclosure | Entity pages, trust-agreement documents, EDINET / official product pages | Whether the firm currently offers the trust product and what disclosures attach. | A general license conclusion. |
Sources: ^[FSA trust-business hub and supervisory guideline: https://www.fsa.go.jp/policy/shintaku/index.html; https://www.fsa.go.jp/common/law/guide/shintaku.pdf; FSA licensed-operator portal: https://www.fsa.go.jp/menkyo/menkyo.html; Trust Companies Association of Japan: https://www.shintaku-kyokai.or.jp/trust/more/law.html.]
Practical Decision Tree
| Question | First place to check | Second check |
|---|---|---|
| Is this a bank doing trust, or a standalone trust company? | Is the entity a 信託兼営金融機関 (兼営法 認可) or a 信託会社 (信託業法)? | FSA 信託兼営金融機関 list vs 信託会社 list. |
| Does the trustee manage assets at its discretion? | Operating-type (免許) vs management-type (登録) classification. | FSA 信託会社 list category; supervisory guideline. |
| Is this firm only arranging trust contracts? | Trust contract agency registration. | Local Finance Bureau 信託契約代理店 registry; which trust company it represents. |
| Is this the sale of a trust beneficiary right? | FIEA Type II Financial Instruments Business, not the Trust Business Act. | securities license stack and FSA FIBO list. |
| Is this an investment-style “specified trust contract”? | FIEA conduct rules layered on top of the trust route. | Whether 特定信託契約 conduct / suitability rules apply. |
Sources: ^[This decision tree applies the categories in the FSA trust supervisory guideline and official registry routes: https://www.fsa.go.jp/common/law/guide/shintaku.pdf; https://www.fsa.go.jp/menkyo/menkyo.html; https://lfb.mof.go.jp/kantou/kinyuu/pagekthp00400063.html.]
JapanFG Relevance
- Sumitomo Mitsui Trust is the largest dedicated trust-bank group; its trust business runs under the 兼営法 route, not as a standalone 信託会社.
- Megabank groups (MUFG, SMFG, Mizuho FG) hold trust-bank subsidiaries that operate concurrent trust business under the same 兼営法 authorization route.
- Custody Bank of Japan and Master Trust Bank of Japan are asset-administration / master-trust specialists — trust banks scoped to custody and fund servicing rather than retail trust products.
- Real-estate beneficiary-right activity routes through the FIEA Type II layer, so a real-estate “trust” deal often touches both this stack and the securities license stack.
Boundary Cases
| Boundary | Why it is easy to misread | FinWiki treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Trust company vs trust bank | Both “do trust,” but one is a 信託業法 licensee and the other a 兼営法-authorized bank. | Record which statute the entity sits under; link the entity page separately. |
| Operating-type vs management-type | A “trust company” label hides the discretionary-management line that decides license vs registration. | State 運用型 (免許) or 管理型 (登録) explicitly. |
| Trust business vs beneficiary-right sale | Selling a trust beneficiary right is a securities (FIEA Type II) act, not Trust-Business-Act trustee activity. | Route beneficiary-right sale to the securities license stack. |
| 信託法 vs 信託業法 | The private-law trust relationship is not the business-entry regime. | Separate the substantive trust from the licence to act as trustee as a business. |
| “Not found” vs “unlicensed” | Missing from one list may mean wrong category or stale spelling. | Record “not found in checked source as of date” rather than asserting unlicensed status. |
Sources: ^[FSA trust-business hub: https://www.fsa.go.jp/policy/shintaku/index.html; FSA licensed-operator portal: https://www.fsa.go.jp/menkyo/menkyo.html; Trust Companies Association of Japan legal overview: https://www.shintaku-kyokai.or.jp/trust/more/law.html.]
Research Checklist
- Start from the entity legal name and corporate number where available.
- Decide whether the entity is a bank (兼営法) or a standalone trust company (信託業法).
- For a trust company, identify operating-type (免許) vs management-type (登録).
- Check the matching FSA list (信託会社 / 信託兼営金融機関) and record the as-of date.
- For agency, check the Local Finance Bureau 信託契約代理店 registry and which trust company is represented.
- If beneficiary rights are sold, switch to the FIEA Type II route and check the FSA FIBO list.
- Write the conclusion with the as-of date and source category; use negative-finding wording when a registration is not found.
Related
- financial-licenses INDEX
- bank license and BaaS boundary
- Japan securities license stack
- Japan payment license stack
- insurance license and solvency route
- Sumitomo Mitsui Trust
- Custody Bank of Japan
- Master Trust Bank of Japan
- financial-regulators INDEX
- securities INDEX
- FinWiki index
Sources
- 金融庁: 改正信託業法 (信託業法, 平成16年法律第154号) 関連ページ.
- 金融庁: 信託会社等に関する総合的な監督指針 (令和6年11月) — 全体・管理型信託会社 (§5)・信託兼営金融機関 (§11).
- 金融庁: 免許・許可・登録等を受けている事業者一覧 (信託会社 / 信託兼営金融機関).
- 信託協会: 信託法・信託業法・兼営法の関係.
- 財務省 地方財務局: 信託契約代理店 登録.
- e-Gov 法令検索: 信託業法 / 金融機関の信託業務の兼営等に関する法律 / 信託法.
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