振興銀首脳逮捕 “改革派”の仮面がはがれた

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Jul. 16, 2010)
Arrest of ex-bank head debunks reformist mask
振興銀首脳逮捕　“改革派”の仮面がはがれた（7月15日付・読売社説）

Former Incubator Bank of Japan Chairman Takeshi Kimura, incumbent President Tatsuya Nishino and three other former and current executives have been arrested on suspicion of violating the Banking Law by obstructing an audit of the Financial Services Agency.
　日本振興銀行の木村剛前会長や西野達也社長ら５人が、銀行法違反（検査忌避）の疑いで警視庁に逮捕された。

As financial inspections by the agency loomed last year, the then executives deleted--on Kimura's orders--280 e-mails likely to have been of interest to the inspectors.
　金融庁の検査の際、見られては都合の悪い電子メール２８０通を、木村前会長の指示で削除していたという。

Suspicions of other shady behavior by the bank have since emerged. We hope the Metropolitan Police Department uncovers the whole truth of the case through an exhaustive investigation.
　振興銀をめぐっては、検査忌避以外にも様々な疑惑が浮上している。警視庁は徹底した捜査で全容を解明してほしい。

Kimura, who started his business career as a Bank of Japan official, served as a brain truster of Heizo Takenaka, who was state minister in charge of economic, fiscal and financial policy in Junichiro Koizumi's administration. Later, Kimura established the Incubator Bank of Japan with like-minded comrades at the Junior Chamber International Tokyo. The bank's motto was to support small and midsize enterprises.
　木村前会長は日銀出身で、小泉政権時代に竹中平蔵元金融相のブレーンを務めた。その後、東京青年会議所の有志らと、中小企業支援を掲げ振興銀を旗揚げした。

Against the backdrop of structural reform pushed by Koizumi's administration, market fundamentalism and the "profit-comes-first" principle based on the law-of-the-jungle philosophy had many strong followers among young entrepreneurs.
　小泉政権時代、構造改革路線を背景に、市場原理主義や弱肉強食の利益最優先の風潮が若手起業家らの間に強まった。

This excessive worship of money was exemplified by the window-dressing case that battered Livedoor Co., including its former president, Takafumi Horie, and insider trading committed by the so-called Murakami Fund, whose president was Yoshiaki Murakami.
　その中で、堀江貴文・ライブドア元社長の粉飾決算や、村上世彰元代表のファンドによるインサイダー取引など拝金主義を象徴する事件が起きた。

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Unjustifiable actions

During this period, Kimura prided himself as being a standard-bearer of financial reform. In the end, however, he betrayed himself--just like Horie and Murakami did.
　同時期に金融改革の旗手を自任した木村前会長も、結局、彼らと同様に馬脚をあらわした。

Despite once being deeply involved in financial administration, Kimura now is a suspect in a criminal case. His alleged actions cannot be justified.
金融行政に深く関与した経験がありながら、自ら事件を起こすとは、言語道断と言わざるを得ない。

Writer Go Egami, who was one of the bank's outside directors, has been appointed as the bank's new president.
　逮捕された西野社長の後任には振興銀の社外取締役を務める作家の江上剛氏が就く。

Egami has written about his days as a banker at the defunct Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank. In one memorable episode, he pressed the Dai-Ichi Kangyo management to terminate its ties with sokaiya corporate racketeers.
The management environment at Incubator Bank is severe. As president, Egami must tread a thorny path.
　旧第一勧業銀行の行員時代、総会屋との決別を経営陣に迫った逸話は有名だが、振興銀の経営環境は極めて厳しく、江上新社長は茨(いばら)の道を歩むことになろう。

It has become apparent that the bank put profit-making before all else, while projecting itself as "the friend of small and midsize enterprises."
　中小企業の味方という振興銀の看板の裏には、利益のためなら手段を選ばぬ実態があった。

The bank allegedly charged a hefty commission when asking major moneylender SFCG Co. to buy back loan claims. This, in effect, was the equivalent of imposing an illegally high interest rate of about 46 percent, far above the upper limit stipulated in the Investment Deposit and Interest Rate Law, according to investigation sources. SFCG, which earned an unsavory reputation for its strong-arm loan collection methods, is undergoing bankruptcy procedures. The bank disguised the transactions as legitimate trades of loan claims. However, a healthy bank would not make such moves that took away proceeds from a loan shark facing difficulties raising funds.
　強引な取り立てで問題になった商工ローン「ＳＦＣＧ」（破産手続き中）に、出資法の上限を上回る年４６％の暴利で融資した。表向きは適法な債権売買を装い、資金繰りに窮した高利貸しの上前をはねる取引と言える。

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More suspicions remain

Incubator Bank also allegedly recommended a person affiliated with the bank be appointed as an executive to a company that had applied for a loan, and pressed the applicant firm to accept the plan. The person consequently took control of the firm's management. The bank thus had shades of a corporate raider.
　融資を頼んできた会社に、振興銀の息のかかった人物を役員に推薦して受け入れを強要し、経営の主導権を奪うなど、乗っ取りまがいの行為もあった。

The FSA inspections that began last year exposed the bank's illegal activities. But we wonder if the agency could have detected the bank's true nature--and penchant for breaking the rules--much earlier.
　金融庁は昨年からの検査で違法行為を暴いたが、ルール無視に染まった銀行の実態を、もっと早くつかめなかったのか。

Investigators will try to trace the inner workings of a group of the bank's client companies, a network established under Kimura's presidency. The bank extended loans to these member firms, which in turn accepted requests to boost the bank's capital.
　木村前会長を中心に、取引先の中小企業で結成したグループの実態解明も焦点だ。振興銀が会員企業に融資する一方で、会員企業は振興銀の増資に応じていた。

We wonder whether such loans and capital increases were legal. The MPD should get to the bottom of this matter, too.
　融資や増資は適正だったのか、警視庁はこうした点についても真相を明らかにすべきだ。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, July 15, 2010)
（2010年7月15日01時01分 読売新聞）