Japan's three largest banks have moved from exploratory talks into formal infrastructure deployment, establishing a joint stablecoin council targeting live transactions by March 2027.
Mitsubishi UFJ Bank (MUFG), Mizuho Bank, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) published a joint press release Wednesday announcing the council formation and the fiscal-year target.
Under the proposed structure, the three banks will act as joint settlors on a trust contract, with trust banks serving as trustees to issue the stablecoin. The three institutions have been conducting joint practical discussions since Japan's Financial Services Agency approved their participation in the FSA FinTech Experimental Hub and Payment Infrastructure Project (PIP) in November 2025.
The new body carries an operational mandate: build out infrastructure, finalize regulatory scheme design, and establish governance before the target launch window closes at the end of Japan's fiscal year on March 31, 2027.
The trust-based issuance structure distributes operational responsibility across all three banks. Each bank serves as co-settlor on the trust contract. The trust bank holding the underlying assets acts as trustee. That joint arrangement also frames the governance model for the council itself, with no single institution holding a controlling position.
