Financial innovations should be regulated as strictly as pharmaceutical drugs, the head of the Tokyo Stock Exchange said on Wednesday, in a rare call by an exchange chief for regulatory pressure to limit the power of trading technology.

In a hard-hitting speech to delegates at the Sibos payment and securities settlement systems conference in Hong Kong, Mr Saito said: “Technology has to match with the environmental arrangement. Without any preparations or demonstrations by the watchdog, no technological advance or progress should be allowed, I think. Like pharmaceutical drugs or very sensitive machines.”