The Financial Supervisory Agency (FSA), following up the "Comprehensive Plan for Financial Revitalization (2 July 1998)", will embark on the drafting work on manuals and checklists for financial inspection; a working group, tentatively named "Working Group on financial inspection manuals", will be set up for this purpose.

(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 thisyear."

DETAILS:

　The publication of manuals and checklists on financial inspection is expected to strengthen the confidence in Japanese financial supervisory policy, through the improvement in the quality of inspection and the consolidation of bank management policy based on the principle of self-responsibility.

- A working group, tentatively named "Working Group on financial inspection manuals", will be set up in the Inspection Department of the FSA, with the mandate to carry out an extensive and technical discussion towards the introduction of manuals;

- The working group, to be composed of five to ten members, will include external experts, e.g. accountants, lawyers, bankers.

3) Planned agenda

- the working group will be establised by the end of August;

- the working group will meet regularly to carry out an extensive discussion oninspection manuals, taking into account practices inside and outside Japan, as well as ongoing works at the Basle Committee on Banking Supervision; hearings are also scheduled;

- the working group is expected to complete its work and publish the result by the end of the year.