UFJ at center of watchdog's probe
(CNN) -- Shares in UFJ Holdings took an initial tumble Wednesday after media reports that the Financial Services Agency may file a criminal complaint this week against its main banking unit UFJ Bank for obstructing a government inspection.
At the midday break, UFJ Holdings-- the fourth largest banking group -- had recovered to be steady at 498,000 yen, after earlier going as low as 478,000 yen.
Other big banks Mizuho and MTFG are flat, while SMFG is down 0.7 percent. The broader market, measured by the Nikkei 225, is up about a third of a percent to 11,321.28.
According to the Nihon Keizai business daily, the FSA -- the country's financial watchdog --has decided to file criminal complaints against UFJ Bank and three of its executives.
The newspaper report said the FSA would file the complaints with the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, possibly as early as this week.
However an official of the FSA told Reuters news agency Wednesday that no decision had yet been made about filing charges against UFJ this week.
The Nihon Keizai said the bank executives were former UFJ Bank Senior Executive Officer Sen Hayakawa, former Executive Officer Masayuki Inaba and a former deputy manager.
According to the Nihon Keizai, when the FSA inspected UFJ Bank last year, it found a large volume of documents that would substantially influence the assessments of large borrowers in a room separate from the one where such documents were supposed to be stored.
Subsequent FSA investigations revealed that UFJ had made an organized effort to conceal these documents, it said.
In June, the FSA hit the bank with four business improvement orders, and UFJ has acknowledged the allegations made by the agency.
