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

(Excerpt)

(Tuesday, January 26, 2016, 10:08 am to 10:22 am)

[Opening remarks:]

I’d like to talk about the launch of the financial administration monitoring system. During the three years since I took up this post, I’ve kept saying that the Financial Services Agency (FSA) needs to replace its image as a “financial punishment agency” with that of a “financial nurturing agency,” and that this transformation should go beyond image and constitute a substantial practical change. I think that we’re making progress, albeit gradual, toward becoming a financial nurturing agency, but I think it’s a fact that from the standpoint of the financial institutions in the market, our old image as a financial punishment agency is difficult to shake off, so I feel that some people might be hesitant about speaking up. They may want to say that they’re dissatisfied with the FSA, they may want to make statements like that, but it’s awkward for them to do so directly when it’s their supervisory agency. So on the 29th of January we’re going to launch this financial administration monitoring system to listen to opinions and so on concerning financial administration not through FSA employees, but through neutral third parties, academics, various people like that. Through this initiative, I hope that we can continuously improve the quality of financial administration by constantly taking on board opinions from outsiders, even if they might be opinions that the FSA doesn’t want to hear, and I would like financial institutions and other parties involved to make active use of this system.

[Questions and answers:]

Q.

Minister, regarding this financial administration monitoring system, do you think that as a result of its launch your perception of the issues will change? Do you think that all sorts of views from all sorts of places, which couldn’t be taken on board in the past, will become accessible, and that they will now be taken on board?

A.

I think that a lot of things will change.