Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has reportedly directed Prudential Life Insurance and its holding company to submit a detailed plan outlining how it will prevent future misconduct by employees.
The order, issued under the insurance business law, follows the arrest of three former employees over a series of fraud and data privacy violations.
People familiar with the matter told Japan Times that the regulator’s demand stems from incidents involving former Prudential staff, including a case in which a former employee was arrested in June 2024. Authorities suspect the individual defrauded 34 policyholders of roughly ¥750 million between 1999 and 2023.
A separate arrest later the same year involved another former worker accused of deceiving 10 clients out of about ¥170 million.
In a more recent case, a third ex-employee was detained in early 2025 for allegedly leaking confidential customer information.
The FSA has also taken further action against Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co Ltd (MSI) and Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Co Ltd (ADI), which operate under MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings.
Both subsidiaries were issued updated business improvement orders in March 2025 following continuing concerns over policyholder data mishandling and competition law breaches.
The new orders require MSI and ADI to reassess their existing compliance programs and submit revised action plans by May 30. The plans must address internal controls, risk management strategies, and steps to ensure legal handling of customer data. The firms are also required to begin implementing the plans immediately after regulatory approval and report quarterly progress, beginning in September.
MS&AD acknowledged the regulator’s findings in a public statement.
“[MS&AD, MSI, and ADI] take the administrative actions very seriously and apologise for inconvenience or concern this situation may have caused our customers and other stakeholders,” the group said.
The FSA’s oversight has extended to other domestic insurers. Companies including Sompo Japan Insurance Inc and Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co have been under review after reports emerged that seconded employees at affiliated agencies accessed customer data without proper authorisation.
Sompo Japan, in a disclosure from July 2024, reported that its employees had retrieved and shared client data from other insurers at multiple agency locations.
One of the larger cases involved approximately 2,700 customer records obtained from Total Insurance Service Ltd in Tokyo. Another instance included more than 1,500 records of fire insurance clients with property-backed loans shared through Yokohama-based Hoei Co.
The FSA continues to focus on data protection standards across the insurance industry and has indicated that further supervisory measures may be introduced.
