With Luxembourg's Grand Duke Henri on a three day state visit to Japan the fintech associations in each country took the opportunity to formalise links.
Following the Luxembourg-Japan Business Forum in Tokyo, the Luxembourg House of Financial Technology Foundation (LHoFT) announced the signature of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Fintech Association of Japan (FAJ).
This MoU was signed by Nicolas Mackel, CEO of Luxembourg for Finance, on behalf of the LHoFT. The agreement confirms that Luxembourg is becoming a hub for fintech and for corporations looking for fintech investment opportunities across Europe.
The FAJ will now have potentially better access to the European Union while also welcoming European Fintech startups to explore the financial sector in Japan.
Not So Big in Japan
After the Japanese government passed a bill in May 2016 hopes were high that it would trigger a flood of financial technology firms and entrepreneurs into Japan, a country renowned for its cutting edge technology.
However that hasn't happened and if anything Japanese fintechs have found their way into other parts of Asia, particularly Southeast Asia. One high profile defection being Taizo Son, brother of Softbank billionaire Masayoshi Son.
On her recent visit to the Singapore Fintech Festival Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike made a strong pitch for financial technology firms and startups to seriously consider Tokyo as their Asian hub.
