US government ready to “monitor” Japan Post privatiziation

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The US government will monitor the privatization of Japan Post closely in order to make sure that US financial services groups that operate in Japan will not be disadvantaged unfairly by the move, according to US trade representative Susan Schwab. While a senior Japanese official called the concerns voiced by the administration of President George W. Bush a misunderstanding, Ms. Schwab said that the US would not hesitate to litigate the matter if inequities were detected.At issue is the privatization of Japans post office, also currently the worlds largest bank and insurance company. The post office will be broken up into four companies in October. Besides a mail delivery service and a post office network, a bank with assets totaling 226,000 billion will be created, along with a life insurance company holding assets of 114,000 billion. The Japanese government will continue to fully own the four new companies until they are publicly listed, which is scheduled to take place in three or four years.Foreign companies, including US firms, are reported to be especially concerned that the new life insurance company will be allowed to sell new products before conditions allowing equal competition are enacted. Nobuyuki Kinoshita, director general of the Office for the Promotion of the Privatisation of Postal Services, said that the disadvantages and discrimination feared by the foreign companies are impossible because of provisions written into the postal privatization law.