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

(Excerpt)

(Tuesday, October 27, 2015, 10:54 am to 11:10 am)

[Questions and answers:]

Q.

I would like to ask about the realignment of regional banks. Yesterday, Ibaraki Prefecture’s largest regional bank Joyo Bank and Tochigi Prefecture’s largest, Ashikaga Holdings, that is, Ashikaga Bank, commented in response to a news about a merger between the two that they will be examining and discussing the possibility of a business merger. Would you please give us your assessment and expectations of such realignments among regional banks?

A.

There have been a number of such stories, for example, the merger between Kagoshima and Higo, and each time I have given the same answer: I cannot comment on their business decision. Financial institutions fundamentally operate autonomously based on their own business decision. I can only speak in generalities, but I believe that the management teams at individual banks, faced with such challenges as a declining population, have given serious consideration to their strategies and approaches to facilitating financial intermediary functions continuously. As a merger would be meaningless unless it were to have positive outcomes, I would think that they are anticipating desirable results.