TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's financial watchdog on Friday slapped a three-month suspension of insurance product sales on two units of the former state-owned postal services group over improper sales that left thousands of people at a disadvantage, a source close to the matter said.
The Financial Services Agency, concluding a three-month investigation in mid-December, issued the penalties against the units of Japan Post Holdings Co., which was privatized in 2007 and is owned 57 percent by the government. An official announcement of the penalties is expected later in the day.
To take management responsibility, Masatsugu Nagato, chief executive of Japan Post Holdings, Mitsuhiko Uehira and Kunio Yokoyama, presidents of the units Japan Post Insurance Co. and Japan Post Co., respectively, are expected to step down.
