Provisional Translation

Q.

In opinion polls conducted at the weekend, not only by us but by other companies as well, around 70 percent of respondents said that they couldn’t understand Minister Aso not accepting the so-called 20-million-yen report. If you have any comment on this, please share it with us.

A.

I understand that some people have that opinion, but regarding this issue, I ‘m wondering what will happen if I just accept the report as it is. So at the very least, I think it’s totally wrong to write things like the current system, which was established in 2004, being a mistake, or that unless you have 50,000 yen a month, or unless you have 20 million yen, you’ll be in the red, so the basic view that I’ve stated until now, namely that I cannot accept such opinions, has not changed fundamentally.

Q.

I’d like to ask you about the Japan Post Insurance case. A number of misselling have come to light, and the company has also admitted misselling, and the cause is said to be similar to that at Suruga Bank, namely a focus on meeting sales quotas. That seems to be one of the background factors, and it might heap more pain on provincial areas. Financial Services Agency (FSA) has pointed out issues at the company on several occasions in the past, but the situation hasn’t been really improving. Please tell us your view on this.

A.

This concerns an individual financial institution, so I won’t make any comment at this stage as I always say. But speaking in general terms, substantially harming the interests of customers in that way is undesirable, and I think that for financial institutions, the thing they should be most careful about is not damaging their trust. In that sense, I think that we will need to continue to supervise them to ensure that they operate in an appropriate manner.

Q.

Regarding the Minister’s decision not to accept the 20-million-yen report as an official report, after a Cabinet meeting, you explained that you had made the decision, but others said that the Prime Minister’s Office had made the decision, and the opposition parties asked the staff about that, but they struggled to come up with an answer. Are you the one who made the decision?

A.

Was that an article in your newspaper?

Q.

Yes.

A.

In that case you should know yourself. Why don’t you just investigate the information source yourself?

Q.

I did, but I want to hear it from you, Minister.

A.

I decided it myself. The Prime Minister’s Office didn’t say anything.