A Bloomberg report said Mizuho Financial Group Inc will be seeing Chairman Takashi Tsukamoto leaving his post after the third largest lender Japan was found guilty for the second time in three months regarding handing out loans to crime organizations.
Japan's the Financial Services Agency handed out an order today, which includes the suspension of new transactions via its consumer credit affiliates at the lending unit of Mizuho Bank Ltdfor a month. The Japanese bank said in a separate statement that Tsukamoto will be stepping down from his post at the end of March next year.
The report also said the measures by the Japanese regulator was an addition to its earlier order in September, which directed Mizuho to increase the strength of its bank compliance after the bank failed to halt credit worth JPY200 million or $2 million via an affiliate to members of anti-social groups. In response, Mizuho reduced its pay for executives including its president Yasuhiro Sato members of anti-social groups. It also submitted a plan on October 28 outlining measures that would prompt to improve the internal controls of the bank to the agency.
Over the phone, Tokyo-based analyst Yoshinobu Yamada at Deutsche Bank AG said, "The additional penalties for Mizuho are unlikely to have much impact on the bank's earnings. More important is that the FSA is sending a message that the whole financial industry should strengthen measures against transactions with anti-social groups, using Mizuho's case as a trigger."
At a news conference in Tokyo, Sato said an apology regarding the latest penalties the bank received regarding the claims. In a statement, the Japanese lender said it will be taking the orders of the regulator seriously that as a response, it will be making changes in its corporate structure.
Prior to the announcement of the latest penalties, Mizuho's shares closed 2.4% higher at 216 yen per share in Tokyo today. The shares of the lender had slipped 2.77% overall since the first penalties were announced on September 27.
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