News that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government is apparently planning to withdraw from managing ShinGinko Tokyo Ltd. has opened old wounds for residents who just seven years earlier saw their tax money poured into resuscitating the bank that was supposed to become a savior of small businesses.
The move came to light on May 26 after media reports that said Tokyo TY Financial Group Inc. planned to merge with ShinGinko Tokyo, which was set up in 2005 with a mission to lend to small Tokyo firms shunned by banks at the time.
But it again raises a crucial question: Will the metro government honor its commitment to protect the money used to bail out the bank?