Digital Securities (Security Token) Market Expansion Promotion Subsidy

(1) Overview: A Tokyo Metropolitan Government (Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs, International Financial City Promotion Division) subsidy supporting issuers of Security Tokens (digital securities) — securities issued using distributed-ledger technology such as blockchain. Part of the 'Global Financial City Tokyo' initiative, it aims to create high-value-added precedent cases, accelerate the 'savings to investment' flow, and reinforce Tokyo's position as Asia's innovation & finance hub. (2) Eligible Applicants: Businesses issuing security tokens in compliance with the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act and the Real Estate Specified Joint Enterprise Act, holding the required licences/registrations, with a registered head office or branch in Tokyo. Applicants must not have received commissions/grants for the same project from the national government or other municipalities in the same fiscal year, must not be tax-delinquent, must have no ties to anti-social forces, and must not be subject to corporate-rehabilitation or civil-rehabilitation proceedings. Start-ups (unlisted, founded within 10 years, no substantial control by a large enterprise) qualify for a preferential rate. (3) Eligible Expenses: Three categories — (a) Platform usage fees (issuance/transfer/redemption-management platform fees and related outsourcing), (b) Expert consultation fees (legal/administrative-scrivener/tax-accountant advice on FIEA compliance), (c) System development costs (outsourced development of advanced ST issuance systems). For development items >¥1M (excl. tax) at least two competing quotes are required; sub-contracting, payments to related companies, design/translation-only work, dispatch-labour costs, and work whose IP does not vest in the applicant are excluded. (4) Rate / Cap / Schedule / Key Points: 1/2 of eligible expenses (2/3 for start-ups), capped at ¥7.5M per project; raised to ¥10M if the project falls under one of two priority fields (newly-tokenised asset class, or digital-tech-driven new investor experience). Past recipients of the predecessor subsidy are capped at ¥3M. Applications: 10 Apr 2026 - 29 Jan 2027 (first-come, closes when budget exhausted); jGrants e-filing or postal submission to the Bureau's International Financial City Promotion Section. Selection by interview screening (online, A4 x 2-page deck). Project period ends 31 Mar 2027.