Press Conference by ASO Taro, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, and Minister of State for Financial Services

(Excerpt)

(Tuesday, June 15, 2021, 10:47 am to 10:53 am)

[Questions and answers:]

Q.

A third-party panel published a report on the latest system failure at Mizuho Bank. The report points out human error in operation rather than system defects. What do you think of that, and could you explain future measures to be taken by the FSA?

A.

This is a matter concerning Mizuho Bank, or Mizuho Financial Group. I know that a third-party panel to investigate the system failures was established and the panel recently published its report. However, it is a matter of an individual bank, and we do not make any comments on individual cases. The latest system failure was the third one. Around two decades ago, Mizuho Bank integrated three different old systems into one system. I said when they could invest such a great system. Since then, there have been system failures three times. In that sense, the bank must intensively investigate the causes, and it is now carrying out a follow-up in a focused manner. Therefore, the FSA will take measures from now on as needed.