[Minister in His Own Words]

This section provides information regarding the hot topics of the moment, selected from questions and answers given at the Minister's press conferences, etc.

If you wish to find out more, we invite you to visit the “Press Conferences” section of the FSA website.

A1. I would like to refrain from commenting on the impact of the bailout of Dexia following its failure, as the details of the bailout have not yet been revealed. Generally speaking, I understand that public bailout of a financial institution is desirable for Japanese financial institutions as market players, as it restores the financial soundness and credibility of the troubled financial institution, and provides some degree of reassurance to the financial market.

In any case, although Dexia does not have a branch in Japan as I said earlier, the FSA will keep a careful watch on future developments related to the bank with a high level of alertness so as to prevent any unforeseen impact from hitting Japanese financial institutions. As you may well know, Dexia is specializing in loans to local governments. In Japan, too, there used to be a public financial institution specializing in loans to regional public enterprises, called Japan Finance Corporation for Municipal Enterprises, which was under the jurisdiction of the former Ministry of Home Affairs. I hear that Dexia was created as a result of the privatization of an institution like that, so from what I heard during my visit to Europe, I suppose that it is somewhat different from a commercial bank. In any case, I think that the governments of France, Belgium and Luxemburg have acted quickly.

[Extract from the press conference following the Cabinet meeting on October 11, 2011]

A2. As for the double loan problem, as was mentioned now, consultations were held on the revisions of the bill on the reconstruction support organization for companies damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake, and on October 20, an agreement was reached on the revisions among the working-level officials of the three parties.

Under the three-party agreement, I believe that it is necessary to divide the roles between the reconstruction support organization and prefectural industrial reconstruction organizations - each of three disaster-stricken prefectures has received 50 billion yen from the government, if I remember correctly - and it is required that care should be taken to avoid creating confusion in the frontlines of activity. The draft supplementary resolution stipulates that this requirement be included in the bill.

If the bill has been enacted in the legislative branch, I hope that appropriate management of each organization will be ensured with that requirement in mind. From now on, we will create an organization that provides support mainly to small enterprises, agriculture, forestry and fisheries industries, and medical and welfare service businesses, and that will enhance support while ensuring that this organization and the prefectural industrial reconstruction organizations complement each other. It is important that those organizations and the organization that was previously established at each prefecture (Management Committee of Individual Debtor Guidelines for Out-of-Court Workouts) complement each other.

[Extract from the press conference following the Cabinet meeting on October 25, 2011]

A3. As the Olympus case is a matter concerning an individual company, basically, I would like to refrain from making comments in light of the relationship between the market and the Financial Services Agency (FSA) as an administrative organization.

However, generally speaking, if the fairness and transparency of the market is to be ensured, it is essential, as you know, that each listed company exercise governance sufficiently and make appropriate information disclosure. From that viewpoint, it is very important to aptly respond to requests for information disclosure from both domestic and foreign investors.

The FSA, in cooperation with the Tokyo Stock Exchange and other organizations, will continue efforts to ensure appropriate exercise of governance and information disclosure by each listed company.

[Extract from the press conference following the Cabinet meeting on October 28, 2011]

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[ Press Releases in October ]

October 3	Access		Decision on an order to pay an administrative monetary penalty for falsification of financial statements, etc. concerning DDS, Inc.
October 6	Access		Agenda for the 3rd meeting of the Working Group on Insider Trading Regulations, Financial System Council
October 7	Access		Lending term changes, etc. based on the Act on Temporary Measures to Facilitate Financing for SMEs, etc.
	Access		Publication of partial revision (draft) to the Administrative Guidelines (Volume 3: for Non-Bank Finance Companies
	Access		10th Meeting of the Examination Board - Summary of Minutes
	Access		"Symposium on how to avoid involvement in financial troubles"
October 11	Access		Administrative actions against Tahara Investment Consulting Co.
	Access		Decision on an order to pay an administrative monetary penalty for insider trading by the recipient of information from Cyber Communications Inc. employees
	Access		Decision on an order to pay an administrative monetary penalty for insider trading in Japan Automobile Auction Co. shares by the recipient of information from the party to a contract with the tender offeror
	Access		First trial date for the case of a violation of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act in relation to market manipulation regarding Inspec Inc.
October 14	Access		Administrative actions against Star Kawase Securities Co.
	Access		Status of crime involving counterfeit ATM cards
October 18	Access		Publication of partial revision (draft) to the Comprehensive Guidelines for Supervision of Insurance Companies
	Access		Agenda for a joint meeting of the Business Accounting Council and the Planning and Coordination Committee
	Access		Agenda for the 5th meeting of the Financial System Council's Working Group on Medium to Long-term Picture of Japan's Finance Industry
October 20	Access		Agenda for the 5th meeting of the Working Group on Insurance Company Group Management
	Access		FY2010 onsite inspections of special juridical persons under the civil code, overseen by the FSA
October 21	Access		Posting a collection of statistics on the money lending industry
	Access		Administrative actions against Billwell Co.
October 24	Access		Publication of materials for local business explanation meetings
	Access		FSA extends temporary measures regarding restrictions on short selling and purchase of own stocks by listed companies
	Access		Results of public comments on “the (draft) designation of transactions and loans/borrowings excluded from target transactions of financial instruments obligation assumption service”
October 25	Access		Results of Public Comments on Relevant draft Orders and Cabinet Office Ordinances for enforcement of the Act to Partially Amend the Deposit Insurance Act
October 27	Access		“Financial Guidebook Starting from Fundamentals - Let's Master Financial Knowledge” and “Lecturer Training Manual” for the guidebook
	Access		"Symposium on how to avoid involvement in financial troubles"
October 28	Access		Number of information provision cases concerning improper use of deposit accounts
	Access		Number of debtors suspending repayments since the Great East Japan Earthquake and their debt amount
	Access		“Cabinet Office Ordinance to Partially Revise the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Money Lending Business Act”
October 31	Access		Status of Counseling, etc. Provided by the “Counseling Office for Financial Services Users” (Period: July 1 to September 30, 2011)
	Access		Updating a collection of statistics on the money lending industry
	Access		Agenda for the 6th meeting of the Financial System Council's Working Group on Medium to Long-term Picture of Japan's Finance Industry
	Access		Promulgation of a Cabinet Office ordinance/notification on the extension of temporary measures regarding restrictions on short selling and share buybacks by listed companies
	Access		Results of public comments on the (draft) Cabinet Office ordinance for partial revision to the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Banking Act, etc.
	Access	is a link to the publication web page.

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Web Pages Most Accessed in October

This section shows the October Press Releases web pages which were accessed the most.

To see the web pages most accessed in the past, go to the FSA web site's Web pages most accessed (past data, etc.) (Available in Japanese only)

• Financial institutions being inspected by FSA
• List of licensed (registered) financial institutions (English)
• Financial Facilitation Measures for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
• Beware of fraudulent investment solicitation!
• Administrative actions against Barclays Capital Securities Ltd.
• Agenda for a joint meeting of the Business Accounting Council and the Planning and Coordination Committee
• Names of unregistered financial instruments business operators
• Promulgation of the Cabinet Office Ordinance for Partial Revision of the Rules on Consolidated Financial Statement Terminology, Forms and Preparation Methods, etc.
• Great East Japan Earthquake-related information (English)
• Publication of partial revision (draft) to the Comprehensive Guidelines for Supervision of Insurance Companies