Japan’s Financial Services Agency plans to toughen penalties for stock-price manipulation carried out through high-frequency trading, according to a Nikkei report. The regulator intends to raise the administrative surcharges it can impose on firms that use micro-second order placement to distort prices, a practice the FSA says undermines market fairness and investor confidence. The agency will convene a working group of the government’s Financial System Council later this year to draft specific measures. Its goal is to submit revisions to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act during the 2026 ordinary session of the Diet, people familiar with the deliberations told the newspaper. Japan joins regulators in the United States and Europe that are stepping up scrutiny of algorithmic trading as activity in this segment accelerates. By increasing financial penalties, the FSA hopes to deter abusive strategies while allowing legitimate high-speed trading to continue supporting liquidity in the Tokyo market.