On December 4, JBA announced the following comments by Chairman Nagayasu on the passing of the Act on Suspension, etc. of the Disposition of Stocks of Japan Post Holdings Co., Japan Post Bank Co. and Japan Post Insurance Co.
Today, the Act on Suspension, etc. of the Disposition of Stocks of Japan Post Holdings Co., Japan Post Bank Co. and Japan Post Insurance Co. was passed at the extraordinary session of the Diet. The act contains provisions such as the following: “Reviews are to be conducted by the government concerning the privatization of Japan Post based on a cabinet decision on October 20, 2009 with the aim of ensuring that postal service duties necessary for the daily lives of Japanese citizens are adequately provided. In light of this fact, the disposition of stocks of Japan Post Holdings Co., Japan Post Bank Co. and Japan Post Insurance Co. will be suspended.”
JBA has constantly advocated that the principles of postal reform were “reducing Japan Post to an appropriate size,” “ensuring conditions for fair competition with private financial institutions” and “preventing the transfer of risk from one Group company to another.” Furthermore, we have consistently advocated the importance of enhancing convenience for people and directing the flow of capital back to the private sector through the facilitation of fair competition in the financial market by rectifying the structure of advantages inherent to governmental businesses and their bloated scale resulting from these privileges.
For example, if the Government maintains a monetary stake, even after the reviews of Japan Post Bank, and it becomes a special bank with permission to conduct a wide scope of businesses pursuant to a special law, then it is possible that a significant inequality will result with private financial institutions in terms of conditions for competition. In such a case, we believe that expansion of the scope of businesses to be conducted by Japan Post Bank following the review, which thus far has been furthered based on the assumption that it will become completely privatized, should not be allowed. Rather, from the perspective of ensuring conditions for fair competition, we believe that the company’s businesses should be reduced to a minimum, e.g. by establishing a certain limit on deposit amounts.
For future discussions or reviews, we strongly request that careful discussions should be carried out and opinions should be gathered from a wide range of interested parties so that a healthy financial market that contributes to convenience for customers may be developed while ensuring conditions for fair competition between Japan Post Bank and private financial institutions.