Banks will amend their current business rules in line with legislation submitted to the Diet designed to offer broader compensation to victims of bank-card crimes, the head of the industry said Tuesday.
The remarks by Terunobu Maeda, chairman of the Japanese Bankers Association and president and CEO of Mizuho Financial Group, came after the legislation, proposed by the ruling coalition, was submitted to the Diet earlier in the day.
Under the bill crafted by the Liberal Democratic Party and its partner, New Komeito, financial institutions will be obliged to compensate depositors for funds stolen through bank card forgeries and thefts.
"Since last year, we have said that we want to deal with the issue by changing our business rules," Maeda told a news conference. "But if the bill is passed, we will amend the rules accordingly."
The coalition's move comes amid mounting criticism over banks' failure to respond swiftly to such crimes, as well as the financial institutions' opaque position on compensation obligations.
There has been a sharp increase in these crimes of late. According to the JBA, the number of thefts with forged ATM cards surged to 411 cases, worth 968 million yen, in fiscal 2004, compared with 100 cases amounting to 290 million yen the previous year.