Sanwa Bank said April 8 it will cut the salaries of five executives and senior managers, including Chairman Hiroshi Watanabe and President Naotaka Saeki, by 20 percent to 30 percent for three months in connection with the bank's alleged bribery of Finance Ministry officials, it said.
The five were penalized for their roles in supervising three employees, who wined and dined ministry officials in exchange for confidential information and other favors. The bank reprimanded the three employees the same day.
The three bankers -- who were part of what is known as "MOF-tan," or officials designated to regularly contact the Ministry of Finance -- have been summarily indicted by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office. They have also been given summary orders by the Tokyo Summary Court to pay fines of between 300,000 yen and 500,000 yen. Two ministry officials allegedly received bribes worth a total of 2 million yen from Sanwa Bank.
Employees of four other banks have similarly been given summary indictments and summary orders. Sumitomo Bank has already announced penalties similar to Sanwa's for its executives and employees involved in the scandal. Although the alleged bribery is considered to be the responsibility of the organizations involved, there have been no resignations to date from any of the presidents of the banks in question.