(tentative translation)
February 1, 2008
Financial Services Agency

FSA establishes the Working Group for the Improved Operation of the EDINET System

On Friday, January 25, erroneous large shareholdings reports, claiming acquisition of shares of six listed companies (amounting to no less than 20 trillion yen ($190 billion)), were submitted and disclosed through the EDINET (Electronic Disclosure for Investors' NETwork) system.

The Financial Services Agency (FSA) considers this case a serious challenge to the effective operation of this large shareholdings reporting system, which aims to maintain transparency and fairness of the markets through the timely disclosure of information on the status of large shareholdings. Based on this viewpoint, on Sunday, January 27 the authority promptly ordered the submission of correction reports to the person who submitted the false large shareholdings reports. The FSA is determined to continue to take prompt and strict measures in response to cases of erroneous reporting, including the current one.

In addition, the FSA will promptly examine measures aimed at preventing recurrence of similar cases and contingency management for the disclosure requirements of large shareholdings reports, etc. and the EDINET system, in order to ensure fairness of markets while maintaining transparency and efficiency of securities transactions.

For this purpose, the FSA set up, as of today, the Working Group for the Improved Operation of the EDINET System (The first meeting is to be held today). The Working Group is scheduled to engage in discussions on the issues from practical viewpoints and propose the measures described above by the earliest date possible.