Japan Post Ministry eyes investment trust sales at Post Offices in 2005+

The posts ministry will try to submit a bill to the Diet by the end of March to allow Japan Post to begin sales of investment trusts by the end of 2005, ministry officials said.

The Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications Ministry informed other ministries the same day of its plan to submit the bill during the upcoming Diet session to convene Jan. 19, the officials said.

But the actual submission of the bill could be delayed as the posts ministry needs to negotiate with the Financial Services Agency, which has sided with the banking industry in criticizing the plan as further enlarging Japan Post’s financial operations.

The posts ministry envisages requiring Japan Post employees, who will be in charge of investment trusts sales, to pass a test for qualification as a securities broker under the planned bill, the officials said.

The bill will also stipulate that commission fees to be charged by Japan Post in the sales will be of the same level as in sales by private-sector financial firms.

The posts ministry has been seeking to submit the bill at an early date, saying it will lead to boosting the number of individual investors buying investment trusts as post offices are frequented by the general public.

The plan to launch investment trust sales at post offices was incorporated into a set of proposals compiled by the government in May 2003 for activating the nation’s stock markets.

But it has yet to be materialized due mainly to opposition by the banking sector.

Japan Post, created in April 2003 as a public corporation taking over the work of the governmental Postal Services Agency, handles a huge amount of assets in the forms of postal savings and “kampo” life insurance policies.

The postal entity’s financial business has often been criticized by private-sector financial companies as well as foreign countries as having unfair government backing.