The Financial Services Agency on Sept. 27 ordered Mizuho Bank to stop lending money to "anti-social forces" and ordered it to submit a business improvement plan by Oct. 28 after it was found that the bank has processed up to ¥200 million worth of transactions for yakuza groups through some 230 dubious transactions, mostly in the form of car loans.
The bank's response has been extremely unsatisfactory and unworthy of the nation's third largest bank. This demonstrates poor corporate governance. The bank must make strenuous efforts to rectify the situation so that it can get back people's trust.
A normal response to this kind of development would involve management holding a news conference immediately to explain what happened, what kinds of mistakes the company made and what measures it will take to prevent such mistakes. But the Mizuho Bank management remained silent for a week.