3 MUFG Units to Get Biz Improvement Orders (Update 1)　

Jiji Press

10:52 JST, June 24, 2024 (updated at 15:00 JST)

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Japan’s Financial Services Agency issued business improvement orders to three companies under Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. on Monday for illegally sharing information about customers without their consent.

The orders were slapped on MUFG Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. and Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities Co. based on the financial instruments and exchange law. On June 14, the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission asked the FSA to impose administrative penalties on the three MUFG affiliates.

The FSA also ordered the parent holding company and MUFG Bank to submit reports over the matter based on the banking business law.

The financial instruments and exchange law prohibits banks and securities firms within the same group from sharing undisclosed information about customers without obtaining their permission, a rule known as firewall regulation.

There were cases in which MUFG Bank and the two securities firms shared undisclosed information on a customer despite its requests not to do so. Also, MUFG Bank helped Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities serve as an underwriter for its client company’s bond issue although banks are prohibited from engaging in securities-related operations.