Aozora Bank confirmed a media report Thursday that it provided customer information to U.S. investment fund Cerberus Group, one of its top shareholders, on request between January and February 2002.

But the bank rejected the Nihon Keizai Shimbun's claim that the action was illegal.

"In my understanding, there was nothing illicit" about the disclosure because a confidentiality agreement had been concluded, Aozora Bank President Hiroshi Maruyama told a news conference.