Japan Expands Antitrust Watchdog’s Role With New Bureau for Big Tech Oversight

According to Nippon, the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) announced Wednesday that it plans to establish a new bureau dedicated to strengthening its organizational capacity while also upgrading its regional offices into regional bureaus. The changes are intended to improve enforcement against unfair business practices, including unlawful price-transfer arrangements, and promote fairer commercial dealings for small and medium-sized enterprises.

The proposed restructuring would require legislative changes. Nippon reported that the JFTC plans to submit a bill during the ordinary session of Japan’s Diet next year to amend the country’s Antimonopoly Act and provide the legal basis for the organizational overhaul.

Under the current structure, the commission consists of a Secretariat, which oversees overall administration, along with two operational bureaus: the Economic Affairs Bureau and the Investigation Bureau. The Economic Affairs Bureau is responsible for developing antitrust policy and reviewing corporate mergers and acquisitions, while the Investigation Bureau handles investigations into suspected violations of Japan’s competition law, according to Nippon.

As part of the proposed changes, the Economic Affairs Bureau would be divided into two separate units, expanding the commission to a three-bureau structure. The reorganization is designed to provide additional resources for increasingly complex competition issues, particularly those involving major digital platforms.

The planned overhaul comes as competition authorities around the world have intensified scrutiny of dominant technology companies over concerns including market concentration, digital platform conduct, and the bargaining power imbalance between large online platforms and smaller businesses. Regulators in jurisdictions including the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan have introduced or expanded competition measures aimed at digital markets in recent years.

Japan has also strengthened its oversight of digital platform operators through legislation and competition policy initiatives intended to improve transparency and ensure fair business practices. The JFTC has increasingly focused on digital markets alongside its traditional enforcement responsibilities, reflecting the growing economic influence of large technology companies.

According to Nippon, the commission’s proposed restructuring would mark its first creation of a new bureau in approximately 30 years. The agency intends to seek parliamentary approval for amendments to the Antimonopoly Act during next year’s ordinary Diet session, a step that would enable the organizational changes to move forward.