BR>The head of the nonlife insurance industry on Thursday tried to distance his field from the nation's banking scandal, saying nonlife insurance firms do not excessively wine and dine Finance Ministry officials.
Takashi Onoda, chairman of the Marine and Fire Insurance Association of Japan, said he believes member firms have no such positions as "MOF-tan," or employees designated to regularly contact the Finance Ministry and obtain ministry information.
MOF-tan employees at banks allegedly played a key role in the current bribery scandal involving ministry officials.
In a regularly scheduled Tokyo news conference, Onoda, who is also the president of Sumitomo Marine and Fire Insurance Co., said each section of a nonlife insurance firm contacts the supervisory authorities when necessary.
The industry association does serve lunch to ministry officials invited to speak at director meetings, but the entertainment is not the same as the type widely criticized, he added.