Japan’s financial regulator is running out of patience with regional banks that are struggling to adapt to an increasingly grim business environment.
The Financial Services Agency has targeted some local lenders for "intensive dialogue,” which could lead to regulatory action if they fail to convince it of their viability, Commissioner Toshihide Endo said. He hinted at the need for management changes at banks that don’t change their strategies.
"There has been no innovation,” Endo, 61, said in an interview in Tokyo. The old practice of making money by simply taking deposits and lending them out at a higher rate "has been completely shattered. Banks should be thinking about a business model to survive. But are they?”