25 August 1998 Financial Supervisory Agency The First Meeting of the "Working Group on Financial Inspection Manuals" The first meeting of the Working Group on Financial Inspection Manuals was held today at the Financial Supervisory Agency (FSA). The mandate of the Group is to carry out extensive discussion towards the introduction of manuals and checklists on financial inspection, as envisaged in the "Comprehensive Plan for Financial Revitalization (2 July 1998)". This task force, set up in the Inspection Department of FSA, consists of 18 members, involving 12 external experts (see attached member list). Professor Shinsaku Iwahara (Tokyo University) will chair the Group. The Group will meet regularly, at least twice a month, to complete its work and publish its result by the end of the year. The Group discussed today the outline of manuals and the timeframe of its work. NB. "Comprehensive Plan for Financial Revitalization (2 July 1998)" (excerpt) "3. Strengthening Bank Supervision and Prudential Standards (4) Strengthening of Organizational structure for Inspection, Surveillance, and Supervision Inspection manuals and checklists incorporating external expertise will be adopted for government inspections, and made public by the end of this year." For further information, please contact: Toshitake KUROSAWA Inspection Department, FSA Phone 03-3506-6000 ext.3269 Fax 03-3506-6119