Press Conference by the Minister for Financial Services

(Excerpt)

28 September, 2001

Please be informed that we have decided to establish the Roundtable Committee on the Vision of the Japanese Financial System and Policies in the Future, which is an informal gathering for myself. The committee has set up in response to my previous suggestions that there should be an institution or a committee in which we can frankly talk about the vision of Japanese Finance system and policies in the future in a comprehensive manner, independent of the Financial System Council where issues are discussed in more concrete terms. While the Committee will address urgent issues including the disposal of non-performing loans (NPLs), we plan to fully discuss the vision in the future from the medium/long-term points of view according to the primary purpose of the Committee. The Committee will be convened at 18:00 on October 1.