The Financial Reconstruction Commission is to consider whether it can disclose the numerical data that led to the government's decision to forgive loans to troubled department store chain Sogo Co., the newly appointed FRC chairman said.
The appointment of Kimitaka Kuze as financial reconstruction minister comes amid controversy over the commission's recent decision to approve the government buyback of 200 billion yen in outstanding loans, originally extended by the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan to Sogo.
The LTCB, which failed under massive bad loans in late 1998, was purchased by a group of investors led by U.S.-based Ripplewood Holdings LLC. It was renamed Shinsei Bank on June 5.