Press Conference by the Commissioner

(Excerpt)

March 29 , 2004

Q.

The restart of the ''pay-off'' scheme will come into effect within a year. Considering that there are still arguments for and against the restart of the ''pay-off'' scheme, what kind of stance will the Financial Services Agency (FSA) take?

A.

The restart of the ''pay-off'' scheme will be implemented in April 2005 by law. FSA's position is that it should be enforced in accordance with law. We will make efforts to carry out publicity campaigns properly and make preparations towards April 2005.

Q.

This question relates to the restart of the ''pay-off'' scheme, and is primarily concerned with the Deposit Insurance Corporation (DIC). Are financial institutions making steady progress in maintaining data on depositors and preparing for aggregation of deposits held by the same depositor, which is indispensable for repaying when insured events actually occur?

A.

As the data needs to be submitted to DIC when aggregating of deposits held by the same depositor, the data processing systems need to be unified. The unification has already been confirmed in this regard. At the same time, the Inspection Bureau and DIC have been working together in conducting inspections to determine whether the data have been properly maintained, and the inspections has been completed with respect to more than 90% of all financial institutions. We would like to carry out inspections and supervision rigorously towards April 2005, by continuing such inspections and other means.