Some Bank of Japan board members have voiced doubts over the way some major banks are being run, especially after their stocks kept falling even after they announced plans to increase their capital, according to meeting minutes released Friday.
"The capability of these banks to increase their profits is being strictly examined," the minutes from a March 4-5 Policy Board meeting quoted one board member as saying. It was the final meeting presided over by Masaru Hayami, whose five-year term as BOJ governor expired March 19.
Plans by major banks to raise capital were effective in helping stabilize stock markets earlier this year, especially toward the March 31 end of fiscal 2002, but several members said investors later grew skeptical citing "concern about the feasibility of such plans," according to the minutes.
"The banks did not present the long-term prospect of an increase in profits to cover the burden of paying increased dividends," the minutes say.
Board members called on the banks to "present business models that would enable them to produce added value in the long term," adding that "avoiding business failure in the short term and making steady progress in the disposal of nonperforming loans were a minimum requirement for banks."
Despite these concerns, the nine-member board kept its monetary policy unchanged but left the door open to provide more market liquidity toward the end of the fiscal year.