ＮＩＳＡ 投資活性化の呼び水にしたい

The Yomiuri Shimbun August 28, 2013
Use NISA system as pump-priming step water to reinvigorate investment
ＮＩＳＡ　投資活性化の呼び水にしたい（8月27日付・読売社説）

We hope the Nippon Individual Savings Account system, or NISA, will help move individual financial assets held in the form of cash and deposits into investment and revitalize the nation’s economy.
　現金や預金として滞留する個人金融資産を投資に誘導し、経済を活性化させる契機としたい。

NISA, a new tax system that offers tax exemptions on capital gains and dividend income from stocks and other investments of up to ¥1 million a year, will be introduced in January next year.
　年間１００万円までの株式投資などについて、売却益や配当を非課税とする新税制「ＮＩＳＡ（ニーサ）」が、２０１４年１月にスタートする。

Financial institutions, including securities companies and banks, have already put their efforts to win new customers into full gear.
　証券会社や銀行などの金融機関は、すでに新たな顧客獲得を目指す動きを本格化させている。

We applaud that stock markets will be reinvigorated due to competition over services among financial institutions, but they should refrain from forceful solicitation.
　サービス競争で株式市場が活気づくのは歓迎だが、強引な勧誘などは控えるべきである。

It is essential to carefully foster NISA by listening to investors so that the new system will become a pump-priming measure to help individual investment take root in this country.
　ＮＩＳＡが個人投資を根付かせる呼び水となるよう、利用者の声にもしっかり耳を傾け、大事に育てることが大切だ。

People aged 20 or older and living in Japan can open a NISA account at a financial institutions. The tax exemption period is five years and if ¥1 million is invested every year, the capital gains and dividends on ¥5 million worth of investments will be tax exempt.
　金融機関にＮＩＳＡの専用口座を開設できるのは、日本に住む２０歳以上の人だ。非課税期間は５年間で、毎年１００万円ずつ口座を開けば、非課税枠は５００万円まで拡大できる。

The total amount of individual financial assets in Japan is estimated at a massive ¥1.6 quadrillion. However, more than half of those are in cash and deposits. The ratio of stocks and other investments used to fund corporate activity is only about 8 percent, which is far lower than the 34 percent in the United States and 15 percent in Europe.
　日本の個人金融資産は約１６００兆円と巨額だ。ただし、その半分以上は現金と預金で占められている。企業の活動資金となる「株式・出資金」の比率は約８％にとどまり、米国の３４％や欧州の１５％よりはるかに低い。

If individual assets, encouraged by NISA, flow into stock markets, it would be beneficial to corporate growth. The spread of long-term investment by individuals for the purpose of asset building will help stabilize stock prices.
　ＮＩＳＡに後押しされる形で、個人資金が株式市場に流入していけば、企業の成長促進にとって有益だ。資産形成のため、個人の長期投資が広がることは、株価の安定にも役立つだろう。

Under Britain’s Individual Savings Account system, which NISA is modeled after, 40 percent of the population opened an ISA account.
　ＮＩＳＡのお手本となった英国の「ＩＳＡ」の場合、口座開設者が人口の４割に達するという。

Careful explanation essential

To promote wide use of NISA in Japan, it is indispensable for financial institutions to give detailed explanations about the new system to their customers.
　日本でも普及させるには、金融機関が顧客に、丁寧に説明することが不可欠といえる。

Rather than placing priority on sales quota or simply stressing NISA’s merits, they must explain risks associated with investments as well as the system’s flaws.
　営業ノルマを優先し、メリットばかり強調するのではなく、投資に伴うリスクや短所も、きちんと伝える姿勢が求められる。

For example, if losses are incurred due to a drop in the value of stocks and investment trusts, investors are not eligible for tax exemptions. Another problem is that if investors open a NISA account at a financial institution that only handles investment trusts, they cannot invest in particular stocks.
　例えば、株式や投資信託が値下がりして損失を出すと、非課税の恩恵は受けられない。投資信託しか扱わない会社で口座を開くと、株式の個別銘柄などには投資できないという問題もある。

We urge people considering a NISA account to think carefully about selecting the financial institution where they will open their NISA account.
　ＮＩＳＡを始める人は、口座をどの金融機関に開くか、よく考えて選択してもらいたい。

One person can only open one NISA account in principle and in the first four years, the individual must keep investing at the same financial institution. This is inconvenient for investors and is believed to be one reason financial institutions are desperately trying to attract and keep customers.
　ＮＩＳＡは原則１人１口座で、当初４年は毎年、同じ金融機関でしか口座を開けない仕組みだ。利用者には不便なうえに、金融機関が顧客の囲い込みに必死になる要因とも指摘される。

It is said that the Financial Services Agency plans to change this regulation so people can switch their NISA accounts to a different financial institution every year. The government should discuss changes to NISA to encourage its use by more people.
　金融庁は、口座を開設する金融機関を毎年変えられるよう改める方針という。ＮＩＳＡの利用拡大を図るためにも、政府は制度の手直しを検討すべきだ。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 27, 2013)
（2013年8月27日02時03分 読売新聞）