The administration plans to reorganize Japan Post Holdings Co.'s five-company structure into three companies in October 2011, with the government continuing to hold more than one-third of its shares, Cabinet members said Tuesday.
The move is part of the Democratic Party of Japan-led administration's proposed legislation aimed at scaling back the privatization of Japan Post that was spearheaded by Junichiro Koizumi of the Liberal Democratic Party when he was prime minister.
Postal reform minister Shizuka Kamei, and Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Kazuhiro Haraguchi announced the details of the bill at a joint news conference.
At present, Japan Post Holdings has four companies — Japan Post Service Co., Japan Post Network Co., Japan Post Bank Co. and Japan Post Insurance Co. — under its umbrella.
The bill calls for merging Japan Post Holdings, Japan Post Service and Japan Post Network into a new holding company Oct. 1, 2011, which would then place Japan Post Bank and Japan Post Insurance under its wing.
Under the bill, the government would own more than one-third of the shares in the reorganized Japan Post Holdings on a voting rights basis and the holding company would own more than a third each of Japan Post Bank and Japan Post Insurance, also on a voting rights basis.
The government plans to double the deposit cap at Japan Post Bank to ¥20 million and raise the life insurance coverage limit at Japan Post Insurance to ¥25 million from ¥13 million, on the basis of an ordinance it will issue soon after the Diet passes the bill.
Kamei said he hopes to gain Cabinet endorsement for the bill next week.