Press Conference by Shozaburo Jimi, Minister for Financial Services

(Excerpt)

(Tuesday, April 3, 2012, from 9:05 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.)

[Opening Remarks by Minister Jimi]

Good morning.

First, at Friday's cabinet meeting, I put my signature on a very important document concerning postal reform. As you know, it was decided upon the unanimous approval of the cabinet that the postal reform bills, which were submitted by the cabinet and which have been deliberated for about two and a half years, should be withdrawn. After this decision, at a plenary session of the House of Representatives that started at 12:30 p.m., the withdrawal of the bills was approved with majority support. Thus, the bills were formally withdrawn. Soon after that, the bill to partially amend the Postal Service Privatization Act, etc., which has been agreed upon by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the New Komeito, was submitted to the Diet. As the People's New Party constitutes the coalition with the DPJ, we have naturally coordinated our positions. The New Komeito has also made its own efforts, while the LDP confirmed its agreement at two meetings of the Policy Research Council, although I hear there were various opinions within the party. In a television program on Sunday, LDP President Tanigaki said that he had instructed the Secretary-General to finish the job by the end of April. I also made a statement at an informal meeting of cabinet ministers held after the cabinet meeting. I strongly requested Prime Minister Noda, who is also leader of the DPJ, to do his part in ways that reflect our intentions. Prime Minister Noda said that he had given appropriate instructions to Chairman Jojima of the DPJ's Diet Affairs Committee.

That is all I have to say.

[Questions & Answers]

Q.

Yesterday, a system glitch occurred at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank. The system was restored in a relatively short time and only around 10 transactions were affected. However, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) inspected financial institutions' systems after the system glitch that occurred at Mizuho Bank last year. How do you feel about the latest incident and what actions will the FSA take?

A.

Yesterday, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank reported to the FSA about the system glitch. The FSA is hoping that in light of the results of the comprehensive review of system risks conducted last year, financial institutions will make voluntary efforts to further enhance system risk management systems, including by taking improvement measures as necessary with regard to problems that they have recognized. It is very regrettable that the latest system glitch has occurred at this time.

According to the report from Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, the glitch was resolved yesterday, April 2, with nine transactions affected, if I remember correctly. The FSA urged the bank to make every possible effort to protect customers and to prevent a recurrence of a glitch like this. The FSA will continue efforts to ensure appropriate supervision.

Q.

At today's cabinet meeting, I understand that a decision was made on the reduction of the hiring of new graduates as civil servants. While the government as a whole faces a severe fiscal situation, I presume that regarding the FSA, there is the issue of whether it can maintain adequate supervisory and inspection systems, as indicated by the AIJ problem. How do you view the cabinet decision?

A.

The government as a whole has been making efforts based on the policy of reducing budget expenditures more than before. The fiscal situation is very severe compared with the past. The amount of debts is larger than that of tax revenues. Now, in the third year of our government, there are outstanding debts totaling more than 1,000 trillion yen, including local and national government debts, so regrettably, strict austerity has been imposed. The ceiling on the number of people who may be hired by the FSA in fiscal 2013 has been set at 22, and I believe that we have secured a number necessary for maintaining an appropriate financial administration. From what I hear, the reduction rate for the FSA was the second-lowest after the rate for the Reconstruction Agency, which has been just established, so this number may be the best we could hope for. I feel that we have secured a minimum necessary number for gaining the people's trust in financial administration.

(End)

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