The head of the semigovernmental Deposit Insurance Corp. on Friday described the proposed partial forgiveness by the DIC of loans owed by the Sogo Co. department store chain to Shinsei Bank as a "possible option."
The DIC has not received an official request from Shinsei Bank, formerly the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, to buy back 200 billion yen in outstanding loans made to Sogo Co., said DIC Gov. Noboru Matsuda, who was reappointed to the post Wednesday.
Matsuda told a news conference that if Shinsei decides to exercise its right to sell its loans to Sogo to the DIC, then the DIC will examine the request "as soon as possible" and determine whether it is legitimate.