The government may issue a second business improvement order to the ailing Kumamoto Family Bank, Financial Services Minister Heizo Takenaka indicated Tuesday.
The order would be issued after the bank unveils its earnings report for fiscal 2003 in the spring.
The regional lender said last week it will skip dividend payments for the year on government-held preferred shares that it issued in exchange for a 30 billion yen public fund injection in 2000.
Takenaka told a news conference that the Financial Services Agency will urge the bank to present a new business improvement plan, taking into account the poor showing expected to be detailed in the earnings report.
Kumamoto Family Bank unveiled a business improvement program in September.
It has failed to make progress in terms of boosting its profits, however, prompting President Fukashi Ikemitsu to hint Wednesday that he may resign to take responsibility for the dividend payment failure and the bank's poor performance.