Prime Minister Taro Aso's appointment of Shoichi Nakagawa to head both the Finance Ministry and the Financial Services Agency drew mixed reactions Thursday as economists wondered whether the move will help Japan cope with global turmoil or compromise the FSA's regulatory role.
Aso said Japan is the only member of the Group of Seven industrialized nations that separates regulatory functions from financial affairs.
"When finance ministers are discussing the (crisis), there isn't any other minister who says 'We're not in charge of policies on financial organizations,' " he said in his first news conference Wednesday.
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