Invitation for Public Comments regarding “Draft Basic Guidelines on Impact Investment”

The Working Group on Impact Investment, established in October 2022, has held eight extensive discussions on the roles of impact investment, which aims to achieve social or environmental impacts alongside financial returns. Based on these discussions, the Working Group announced the publication of the Report by the Working Group on Impact Investment.
The FSA is seeking feedback on the „Draft Basic Guidelines on Impact Investment“ within the above report. These guidelines aim to establish a common understanding of the essential elements of impact investment, helping fund-raisers, fund-providers, and other participants in impact investment markets to structure and finance projects that deliver both social or environmental impact and financial return.
The guidelines emphasize the importance of identifying, measuring, and managing impact and profitability, using objective methods like internationally established frameworks. It is crucial to continuously measure and manage whether the planned financial and non-financial support has been provided to the business and whether there has been any progress in impact creation. Ongoing management is also highlighted, encouraging continuous monitoring of indicators and utilizing the information for future actions.
The guidelines propose that promoting impact investment widely could have profound implications, contributing to addressing social or environmental issues while improving business viability. This approach could strengthen the foundation and sustainability of societies and economies. The guidelines may be used by external organizations or internal divisions to evaluate or develop opinions on the consistency of an impact investment with the Guidelines.
The consultation period for public comments on the draft guidelines runs until Tuesday, 10 October 2023. Feedback must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. JST on that date, either via email to sustainable-fin.esg@fsa.go.jp or through the E-Gov, providing the commenter’s name (or entity name), occupation (or entity’s business type), and contact information (address, phone number, and/or email address). Submission of comments by telephone is discouraged.