Establishment of Progmat, Inc. as National Infrastructure towards Digital Asset Market in Japan

Tokyo, September 11, 2023 --- Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation, MizuhoTrust & Banking Co., Ltd., Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited, Sumitomo MitsuiFinancial Group, Inc., SBI PTS Holdings, Co., Ltd., JPX Market Innovation & Research,Inc., NTT DATA Japan Corporation, and Datachain, Inc. today have agreed to alliance ofthe shareholders agreement about the establishment of "Progmat, Inc".

"Progmat, Inc" is responsible for the development of “Progmat”, an issuance andmanagement platform for a range of digital assets, and the management of the DigitalAsset Co-Creation Consortium (“DCC”). DCC has 214 member companies.

Through this alliance, the 8 partner companies will smoothly implement "co-creationareas" with "standardized format" and realize an overwhelming improvement inconvenience for market participants, thereby enhancing the development andcompetitiveness of the digital asset market in Japan.

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1. Background and Purpose of Establishment

In Japan, the foundations of the digital asset market are steadily being laid, with the"Security Token*1" (“ST”) regulation under the revised Financial Instruments andExchange Act effective in 2020 and the "Stablecoin*2" (“SC”) regulation under therevised Payments Services Act effective 2023, and ST-related projects more than 120billion yen have been structured.

In response to this trend, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation has beendeveloping "Progmat ST" platform for ST, "Progmat UT" platform for "Utility Token*3"(“UT”), "Progmat Coin" platform for SC, and the "Token Manager" and "Token Wallet"wallet services for digital assets.

For the digital asset market to expand more fully, it is essential that it offersoverwhelmingly greater convenience than existing traditional securities markets,settlement markets, and the like. “Co-creation" among network participants is the key toachieving this overwhelming level of convenience. To work together beyond the group,we have decided to place a more neutral "joint entity" at the core, rather than a MitsubishiUFJ Trust subsidiary.

In addition, to construct a "common infrastructure" for the digital asset market, it is idealfor a single organization to have both deep domain knowledge of the financial market aswell as overwhelming infrastructure construction capabilities.Instead of the conventional situation where a financial institution acts as the client and asoftware company performs contracted development, both parties have decided to joinhands to create a "joint venture," aiming to create a development group that can makean impact more quickly and more broadly

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2. Future Plans

At the general shareholders’ meeting to be held on the same day of the company'sestablishment, a resolution will be passed to elect directors of "Progmat, Inc." andannounce the management structure of the company, including outside directors.The corporate website will be renewed at the same time, and all content that waspreviously shared exclusively with "Digital Asset Co-Creation Consortium" members willbe made public in principle, and other related information will be opened.

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*1: A generic term for securities that can be transferred using electronic information processing systems such asblockchain (BC) ("electronically recorded transferable securities representation rights, etc." under the FinancialInstruments and Exchange Law).

*2: A generic term for means of settlement that can be transferred using electronic information processing systems suchas blockchain (BC) and that aim to link legal tender with value ("electronic means of settlement" under the FundsSettlement Act).

*3: A generic term for data that can be transferred using electronic information processing systems such as blockchain(BC) and that functions as a necessary voucher for the provision of specific services.