Provisional Translation

Q.

My question is related to the Saudi Aramco IPO. It’s been reported that Saudi Aramco is considering making its IPO on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Political stability, relative to such major markets as London and Hong Kong, has been cited as one reason. While political stability is the factor that has attracted a large capital corporation from overseas to conduct their IPO here, what is the significance of this for Japan’s capital market?

A.

For a large company like Saudi Aramco to consider making such a major transaction on the Tokyo Stock Exchange means that they believe that they can obtain funds in Japan, and I believe this means they have trust in the Japanese market. Also, the yen is comparatively stable. Even when an investment is thought to have resulted in profits, if a sudden drop below parity should occur, then there’s no point to those profits. With that in mind, I think that the fact that the Tokyo Stock Exchange has attracted this IPO means that we can think positively, that the market was evaluated as strong.

Q.

My question is related to Japan Post Insurance. The gradual restart of business activities has been planned to begin in October. However, concern both inside and outside the company has been voiced regarding the restart of business operations while the investigation is still ongoing. I’d like to ask for your opinion on this.

A.

I am aware that Japan Post Holdings made an announcement to that effect about Japan Post Insurance at the end of August. For the present, I’d prefer to refrain from commenting on the management decision of individual companies. In any case, their first order of business is that they must respond properly to the customers who suffered detriment. Once that is completed, it is critical that they make drastic reform efforts to ensure that there will be no more cases of customers suffering detriment going forward.