Last week, the Tokyo Stock Exchange announced it was tying up with the London Stock Exchange to establish a new type of market in Japan.
The new market will make it easier for startups to list by removing numerous regulations and will be restricted to professional investors. It is also slated to be up and running by the end of next year, a remarkably quick timetable by Japanese standards. Which begs the question: Why the rush?
The reason for this haste is that although Tokyo is aspiring to be a top global financial center like London or New York, it has so far failed to attract investment on the same scale as its peers. For example, when looking at the stock exchanges of these three cities, the TSE stands out as being almost completely domestic.