The Finance Ministry will conduct an internal probe to check on excessive wining and dining of its officials in light of the arrest of a former ministry bureaucrat for alleged acceptance of bribes, Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka said Friday.The results of the investigation will be made public, he told reporters and the day's session of the House of Representatives Finance Committee. Mitsuzuka also said the ministry would take new steps such as beefed up enforcement of official discipline to ensure similar incidents do not recur.Senior ministry officials have expressed readiness to conduct the investigation. A director of Japan Highway Public Corp., who was a former ministry bureaucrat, was arrested earlier this week on suspicion of receiving bribes from Nomura Securities in exchange for helping the brokerage become colead underwriter of a foreign currency-denominated bond issue by the public corporation.Prosecutors have also reportedly been investigating allegations that financial institutions had wined and dined incumbent and former ministry officials in order to obtain administrative information. "It will take a certain amount of time for us to conclude the investigation," Mitsuzuka said.Meanwhile, Transport Minister Takao Fujii said Friday that the ministry, which oversees the highway corporation, will consider setting a code of conduct for employees of public corporations under the ministry's jurisdiction.Fifteen special corporations fall under the ministry's jurisdiction, and Kansai International Airport Co. issues foreign currency-denominated bonds.
