Japan Act No. 61 of 2022, officially the Act Partially Amending the Payment Services Act, etc. to Establish a Stable and Efficient Funds Settlement System, is an omnibus national statute that updated Japan’s payment, banking, trust and anti-money laundering framework for digital settlement activity. As of July 21, 2026, the Act is in force, with its main implementing rules effective from June 1, 2023. This profile focuses on the parts of the Act that amend the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds (APTCP) and bring stablecoin-related intermediaries and other digital payment actors into Japan’s AML/CFT perimeter.
The Act was introduced as Cabinet Bill No. 47 in the 208th National Diet, passed the House of Representatives in May 2022, passed the House of Councillors on June 3, 2022, and was promulgated as Act No. 61 on June 10, 2022. Its policy context was Japan’s response to digitalization of funds settlement, including digital-money-type stablecoins, transferable prepaid instruments, and transaction monitoring arrangements for financial institutions.
Key provisions of Japan Act No. 61 of 2022
Stablecoin intermediaries and AML/CFT scope
Act No. 61 adds electronic payment instrument exchange service providers to the APTCP category of “specified business operators.” In practical terms, this links Japan’s stablecoin intermediary regime under the Payment Services Act with AML/CFT duties under the APTCP, including customer verification, recordkeeping, and suspicious transaction reporting where the relevant statutory and ordinance conditions apply.
The Act also adds filed issuers of high-value electronically transferable prepaid payment instruments and several electronic settlement access businesses to APTCP coverage. These additions reflect the statute’s broader concern that digital transfer functionality can create money laundering or terrorist financing risk even where the product is not treated as a conventional crypto asset.
Electronic payment instrument transfer rules
The APTCP amendments create provisions for relationships with foreign electronic payment instrument service providers and for notices connected with certain electronic payment instrument transfers. The statutory text focuses on electronic payment instruments, a category associated with digital-money-type stablecoins under Japan’s payment law. Related crypto-asset travel rule measures were implemented through the wider 2022 AML/CFT rulemaking package and should be cross-referenced separately where a profile covers crypto assets outside the electronic payment instrument category.
Transaction analysis and payment monitoring
Outside the APTCP itself, Act No. 61 creates a permitted “funds transfer transaction analysis” business under the Payment Services Act. The category covers outsourced analysis for multiple financial institutions, including transaction filtering and monitoring functions. This provision is relevant to crypto law because it forms part of the same AML/CFT modernization package and supports common monitoring infrastructure for digital payment channels.
Status and implementation timeline
The statute’s main commencement clause provided for effect within one year of promulgation on a Cabinet Order-designated date. The Financial Services Agency later confirmed that the relevant Cabinet Orders, Cabinet Office Orders, public notices, supervisory guidelines and related materials would take effect or apply from June 1, 2023, except for a specified appendix item that took effect on September 15, 2023. For this profile, the operative status is therefore In force with a main effective date of June 1, 2023.
Some transitional provisions applied to existing market participants. Existing high-value electronically transferable prepaid instrument issuers received transition treatment tied to the June 1, 2023 enforcement date, and existing funds transfer transaction analysis businesses were given a one-year continuation period while seeking permission. The Act also contains a review clause directing the government to consider implementation after roughly five years and take measures if necessary.
Crypto market relevance
For digital asset readers, the most important point is that Act No. 61 is not only a “stablecoin law.” It is also a payment-system and AML/CFT perimeter law. It connects electronic payment instrument exchange, high-value transferable prepaid value, electronic settlement access, and shared transaction monitoring to Japan’s existing criminal-proceeds prevention framework. It should be read alongside the Payment Services Act, the APTCP, FSA supervisory materials, and separate 2022 AML/CFT amendments that address virtual asset transfer-rule implementation.