The Finance Ministry on Thursday ordered Nikko Securities Co. and Daiwa Securities Co. to partially suspend operations for compensating losses incurred by a "sokaiya" corporate racketeer.
Nikko was given a 2 1/2-month suspension while Daiwa was told to halt trading for four months. The punishments were milder than those slapped on industry leader Nomura Securities and Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank earlier this year. In July, Nomura was ordered to halt operations for five months, while a portion of DKB's operations were put on hold for a year. The measures took effect Aug. 6.
While Nomura is currently suspended from dealing in stock-related transactions and underwriting or bidding for Japanese public bonds, it will be able to resume such trading on Jan. 1.