The Financial Services Agency may impose heavier fines on those who engage in insider trading in light of a spate of recent cases, according to its new chief.
"I am aware that there are people who feel the current fines (against the practice) are too low," Tadahiro Matsushita, the new financial services and postal reforms minister, said during an interview with The Japan Times and other media outlets Thursday.
The government is coming under pressure to take stricter action following a number of insider trading scandals recently, including a case in April involving SMBC Nikko Securities Inc.