In this episode of Compliance Champions, Delphine Forma speaks with Taisuke Isono, General Manager of the DeFi Technology Department at SMBC Nikko Securities, about how institutions are approaching decentralized finance, automation, and the future of financial markets

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From automated market access to AML-driven design, this conversation unpacks how one of Japan’s leading financial institutions is bridging TradFi and DeFi and what it means for the future of finance.

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They discuss:

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• How Japan’s regulatory landscape has shaped the creation of a DeFi Technology Department
• Why institutions are exploring DeFi and what triggered this shift in Japan
• How to bridge traditional finance and permissionless blockchain infrastructure
• What it means to “insert a reliable layer” into DeFi systems
• How compliance and risk controls can be embedded directly into technology
• The challenges of applying AML, investor protection and governance in DeFi
• How agentic AI could transform financial services, from risk profiling to decision-making
• The evolving role of intermediaries in a more automated and decentralized market