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

(Excerpt)

(Tuesday, November 24, 2020, ８:49 am to 8:55 am)

[Questions and answers:]

Q.

The Act on Special Provisions of the Antimonopoly Act is scheduled to go into effect on the 27th and will apply to regional banks and other firms; could you let us hear your thoughts on the intent of these provisions and their anticipated effects?

A.

As I say every time, we need to ensure that regional banks as well as regional companies and such are being run properly and contributing to their regions. The population declines that are occurring differ significantly by region, so conditions are not uniform across the board. Each and every prefecture is different in this regard, and there are even differences by location within the same prefecture. While mergers are one option, they are not the only one, and I would like to see regional banks work hard to make sure their reforms contribute to their communities. I think skillful application of the special provisions would be reasonably effective for this purpose.