JBA released the following comments of the Chairman on October 1, in conjunction with the start of the new policy finance organizations on the same day.
Newly organized policy finance institutions opened in their new forms today. Multiple policy finance institutions were integrated into the Japan Finance Corporation (a joint stock corporation), and the Development Bank of Japan Inc. and Shoko Chukin Bank (both joint stock corporations) were privatized.
We have maintained that it is important for policy finance reform to review the function of policy finance with regard to the needs of the times and limit their role, both in scale and means, to the minimum necessary - essentially leaving what the private sector can do to the private sector. We think a big step has been taken in this direction.
Hereafter, it will be necessary to constantly and effectively review the business scope of policy finance under the new regime to check whether or not the policy objective contradicts the principle that the public sector should supplement the private sector, and to check whether or not the business scope has not been expanded to include areas that may be covered by the private sector. It is also important that a level playing field be ensured between the privatized institutions and the existing private financial institutions.
As both domestic and global economic conditions deteriorate, both private financial institutions and policy finance need to play their respective roles properly for Japanese financial markets to meet user needs and strengthen their competitiveness. We, the private financial institutions, will do our best to smoothly execute financial functions.