- MUFG, Japan’s largest banking group, cuts CEO and executives’ pay after “firewall” breaches, with CEO’s salary reduced by 30% for several months.
- MUFG’s data breach reveals lax oversight, undermining client trust and market integrity, despite regulatory action and executive pay cuts.
OUR TAKE
The MUFG scandal is a stark reminder that financial giants often operate above the law. The blatant breach of “firewall” regulations, involving the sharing of confidential client information and preferential lending rates, isn’t just a regulatory hiccup—it’s a profound betrayal of client trust and market integrity.
–Ashley Wang, BTW reporter
What happened
Japan’s largest banking group, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), announced on Friday that it will cut the pay of its CEO and five other executives following breaches of “firewall” regulations at its banking and securities divisions. This move comes after the Financial Services Agency (FSA) ordered MUFG’s units to submit business improvement plans, marking a significant regulatory action in Japan since the 2022 indictment of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group’s securities arm for market manipulation.
The salaries of Group CEO Hironori Kamezawa and five other executives will be reduced by 30% for periods ranging from two to five months, according to MUFG’s statement. Additionally, three former directors at the group’s banking unit and one at its securities arm have been asked to return between 10% and 30% of three months’ worth of salary. Kamezawa, who earned 339 million yen (£1.6 million) in the year ending March 2024, is directly impacted by this decision.
Apart from the breach, in mid-June, the FSA discovered at least 26 instances where confidential client information was improperly shared between MUFG Bank and one of its two securities partnerships with Morgan Stanley from 2020 to 2023. Moreover, MUFG Bank was found to have provided preferential lending rates to clients engaging with these brokerages.
In Japan, strict regulations prohibit banks and securities companies within the same group from sharing customer data without explicit consent.
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Why it’s important
This breach, exposed by the Financial Services Agency (FSA), reveals a troubling pattern of behaviour. For years, MUFG and its executives operated with impunity, disregarding the very regulations designed to protect consumer trust and market integrity. The token punishment of 30% pay cuts for a few months, compared with the Group CEO’s earnings of a staggering 339 million yen last year, feels more like a slap on the wrist than a genuine accountability measure.
The revelations of 26 instances of confidential data sharing between MUFG Bank and its Morgan Stanley partnerships from 2020 to 2023 highlight a troubling lapse in oversight. This breach not only undermines client trust but also raises concerns about the internal controls and compliance culture within one of Japan’s most prominent financial institutions. However, the regulatory action and subsequent executive pay cuts showcase the importance of maintaining robust compliance mechanisms to uphold market integrity and protect customer information.
