April 16, 1993
TO: INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE NO. 9-93
RE: INSTITUTE LETTERS REGARDING MARKET ACCESS ISSUES IN JAPAN
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In anticipation of President Clinton's meetings this month
with Japanese Prime Minister Miyazawa, the Institute sent the
attached letter to the White House outlining the problems
encountered by U.S. money managers seeking to do business in
Japan. Identical letters also were sent to the State Department
and the Treasury Department. Institute staff have met with State
Department and White House staff to discuss the issues raised in
the letter; meetings with Treasury staff are scheduled for April
19.
The Institute letter describes the restrictions on access
to a) the pension market encountered by U.S. advisers that have
discretionary manager licenses, and b) the Japanese mutual fund
market encountered by U.S. firms seeking licenses to manage
Japanese investment trusts (mutual funds). As the letter
indicates, our first priority is to enable U.S. firms operating
as discretionary managers to manage a greater share of Japanese
corporate and governmental pension assets. In addition, we are
also concerned with elimination of the requirement that a firm
that is licensed both as a discretionary manager and an
investment trust manager must maintain separate offices and
personnel, and the prohibition on the commingling of smaller
pension accounts to meet an arbitrary 500 million yen minimum
account size. The letter also sets forth our continued interest
in a more open investment trust management market.
We will keep you informed of developments.
Angela C. Goelzer
Associate Counsel - International
Attachment