Press Conference with Taro Aso, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, and Minister of State for Financial Services

(Excerpt)

(Tuesday, June 18, 2013, 9:15am to 9:35am)

[Questions and answers]

Q.

The other day the Monetary Authority of Singapore in effect handed out punishments to 20 banks, including The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, for manipulating SIBOR, the Singapore Interbank Offered Rate. How do you view these punishments, and what do you think about Singapore’s response and the conduct of The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and the other banks? Also, the issue of interbank-rate manipulation has been shaking the world ever since last year, and although legal frameworks differ from country to country, it seems as though Japanese regulators are taking a comparatively lax approach. Please tell me what you think about this.

A.

I’m not sure that it’s appropriate for someone in my position to comment on individual responses by overseas regulators. I don’t think it’s for me to say that they should have done this or should have done that. Anyway, I think that issues like this need to be looked at in various ways, including as moral issues. Speaking in general terms, all I can say is that I’d like financial institutions from different countries to make sure that they properly adhere to the laws of the various countries they operate in. Because unless financial institutions take issues like this very seriously, they will lose trust.

(End)