(Japan) Japan’s Financial Services Agency is still deciding whether to make banks undergo operational changes aimed at improving their earnings.Mizuho Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and ten or so other regional banks are included among the five major banking groups currently under scrutiny from the FSA.
The FSA is contemplating whether or not to order banks which have received public funds yet which booked net losses in 2002 to put their house in order.
Banking and economy minister Heizo Takenaka, who has come under pressure of his own because of unpopular policies, told a news conference that the FSA would “make a decision soon”.