Provisional Translation

Q.

As you are the Minister of State for Financial Services, I’d like to ask you about the improper sales issue at Japan Post Insurance. In their interim report released yesterday, Japan Post Holdings Group disclosed that there were 6,327 cases of violations of laws, regulations and internal rules over the past five years. What is your reaction to this? Also, there are suspicions of legal violations in about 1,400 from among the 6,327 cases. Japan Post Insurance has previously reported to the FSA that violations of the Insurance Business Act averaged about 20 each year, and this shows a marked increase. I’d like to ask for your thoughts on this as well.

A.

I am aware of the report you are referencing. However, the investigation is ongoing, so I’m currently unable to comment. The Japan Post Holdings Group has to properly continue their investigation going forward, clearly figure out the root causes, and make drastic reforms, and these are what the company has to do. For the FSA’s part, we are carrying out onsite inspections. Therefore, we will have to deal with this issue in the proper manner as necessary based on the results of our inspections.