On June 2, 2006, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) amended the ''Comprehensive Guideline for Supervision of Insurance Companies'' (hereinafter referred to as the ''Guideline for Supervision''). This amendment was made to address the following two issues, of which an overview is given in the subsequent sections:

To clarify the points to be noted by an insurance company in improving and developing a claims payment management system To clarify ''other incidental operations'' of an insurance company

I.		Clarifying Points to be Noted by an Insurance Company in Improving and Developing a Claims Payment Management System
		1.		Development Leading to the Amendment
				In response to the problems of inappropriate omission of insurance claims and benefits payments at life insurance companies, and missed payments of incidental insurance benefits at non-life insurance companies that occurred last year, the FSA issued a blanket request for report submission to all insurance companies.    Having sorted out the results of analyzing the problems found in those reports, as well as issues in various areas, the FSA decided to amend the Guideline for Supervision in an attempt to clarify the points to be noted by each insurance company in improving and developing its claims payment management system.    Seeing that making timely and appropriate insurance claims payments is fundamental, and is the most important function, both necessary and essential, for any insurance company to operate its insurance business, each company is required to set up an appropriate payment management system under the exercise of the appropriate governance functions founded on the self-responsibility principle, with the amended Guideline for Supervision also taken into account.
		2.		Contents of the Amendment
				For the purpose of establishing a prompt and appropriate payment management system in relation to the overall management of insurance claims payments, issues were classified into the following categories:
				Awareness by directors, etc., and the role of the Board of Directors, etc. regarding insurance claims payments Awareness by and the role of managers who are engaged in insurance claims payments Personnel development, and maintenance/improvement of the adjustment skills of claims adjusters Coordination with relevant divisions Development of a system in the payment management division Internal audits Audits by auditors For each of these categories, the FSA has clarified the points to note, and has made other necessary changes as well.
II.		Clarifying ''Other Incidental Operations'' of an Insurance Company
		1.		Development Leading to the Amendment
				As the Insurance Business Law remained ambiguous as to the legality of offerings by an insurance company of services such as business matching, such services were not exactly an area in which insurance companies were actively engaged in the past, given the regulation prohibiting non-insurance operations.    Having recently received a deregulation request from the insurance industry, calling for the clarification that such services fall within what are called, ''other incidental operations'' under the Insurance Business Law, and may accordingly be offered by an insurance company as a business, the FSA examined the issue, taking into consideration the fact, for instance, that the treatment of such services has already been clarified in relation to banks. As a result of its examination, the FSA decided to clarify, in the Guideline for Supervision, that consulting services, business matching services and administrative work outsourcing services fall under ''other incidental operations.''
		2.		Contents of the Amendment
				It has now been clarified that consulting services, business matching services and administrative work outsourcing services, all of which an insurance company has traditionally allowed to implement in conjunction with its conventional operations, fall under ''other incidental operations,'' even when the insurance company conducts them separately from its conventional operations, from the perspectives of better serving client companies and making effective use of expertise, etc. in its conventional operations.    At the same time, the points to note and other matters in the implementation of ''other incidental operations'' have also been clarified, for example: whether a system has been set in place that is designed to ensure strict compliance with laws and regulations, etc., such as the prevention of acts that may be deemed to constitute an abuse of the dominant position and may be problematic in light of the Anti-Monopoly Law.

Following the announcements by the major banks of their financial results for FY 2005, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) calculated the figures, etc. announced by the respective banks, and then released them on May 23, 2006.
   The following sections describe an overview of the financial results of the major banks for FY 2005.