Cash Flow Support for Companies in Consideration of the Extension of the Declaration of a State of Emergency (Request)

With regard to the matters requested in the Attachment titled "Cash Flow Support for Companies in Consideration of the Extension of the Declaration of a State of Emergency (Request)" (published on February 5, 2021), the following are especially requested for major bank groups, etc., in addition to cash flow support for SMEs, in light of their business size and their feature of offering comprehensive financial services.
 
 
 
(1)   Considering the characteristics of large companies and leading middle-sized companies, which are that their customers are relatively large-sized and their business partners are diverse in general, provide cash flow support meticulously and positively in accordance with such characteristics. It is especially necessary to check funding needs and make responses and provide support carefully to operators engaged in restaurant business, passenger transport business, accommodation business, tourism and leisure-related facility business, live entertainment and cultural and sports event-related business, and bridal business, operators of medical and welfare institutions, etc., as well as business operators having transactions with these business operators.
 
(2)   In light of the facts that consultations received at the FSA consultation desk contain complaints suggesting banks' reluctance to provide loans or insistence on repayments and that the FSA has repeatedly requested financial institutions to make the utmost efforts for ensuring cash flow support for companies, financial institutions should give due consideration to the circumstances of companies facing difficulties in financing due to the direct and indirect impact of the COVID-19 infection, and should not only refrain from showing reluctance to provide loans or insistence on repayments, but also make flexible responses to the extent possible from the standpoint of respective companies in order to avoid such misunderstanding.
 
(3)   Kindly and empathically respond to all customers irrespective of whether the financial institution serves as the main financing bank for the customer or not or whether the customer is an existing customer or a new customer.
More specifically, for a customer for which the financial institution serves as the main financing bank, it should fulfill the positive role as such properly on a timely basis, and for a customer for which the financial institution is not the main financing bank, it should endeavor to provide appropriate cash flow support in collaboration with the customer's main financing bank instead of intending to supersede the relevant main financing bank.
 
(4)   When suggesting the utilization of the direct financing market or providing various financial services to companies, make careful responses to ensure that the content of the services is based on respective companies' needs and that companies fully understand the concrete details of provided services. When providing comprehensive financial services in collaboration among a business group, verify whether appropriate measures are taken to prevent abuse of dominant bargaining positions by banks and check individual cases as to whether there is any inappropriate act, such as causing a conflict of interest.
 
(5)   Considering the prolonged impact of the spread of the COVID-19 infection, thoroughly disseminate repeated requests from the FSA among sales personnel and occasionally inspect whether friendly services are being provided to companies at sales bases.
 
The FSA will confirm financial institutions' efforts for fulfilling their financial intermediary function through conducting intensive interviews, etc.