The headquarters of the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi in Tokyo

The Financial Services Agency issued a business improvement order to the bank the same day, urging BTM to enhance a legal compliance system by adopting drastic measures to prevent such misconduct from happening again and to ensure the effectiveness of internal audit functions.

"The bank humbly accepts the order and offers a hearty apology," a BTM spokesman said. "The bank will enhance and toughen the internal control system to prevent such misconduct."

BTM President Nobuo Kuroyanagi and Chairman Shigemitsu Miki will be slapped with a 20 percent pay cut for two months, the bank said.

BTM said the temporary staffer, a 54-year-old woman, was in charge of liaising with customers at a branch in the Tokyo metropolitan region and belonged to the commercial bank's manpower service subsidiary.

She was able to withdraw customer money by soliciting them to transfer funds to fake time deposits she said had more favorable interest rates and used the money to repay her consumer loans, the bank said.

The Japan Times Weekly: Sept. 3, 2005
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