Mizuho Bank vows to cut jobs

Mizuho Bank vows to cut jobs

Agence France-Presse, Tokyo

Mega Japanese lender Mizuho Bank said Tuesday it will close at
least 100 branches in four years and slash jobs as it struggles
to boost business and shake off troublesome bad loans.

"We will start with about 560 branches. Our management plan
states that we aim to reduce at least 100 branches," said a
spokesman for Mizuho Holdings Inc., holding company for Mizuho
Bank and Mizuho Corporate Bank.

Mizuho Bank will be formed in April after consolidating the
retail operations at Industrial Bank of Japan Ltd., Fuji Bank
Ltd. and Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank Ltd. -- the three lenders which
merged in 2000 to form the giant holding company.

The Mizuho group would maintain a plan to cut 10,000 jobs by
2006, reducing its overall workforce to 25,000, the spokesman
said. As of September 2001, it employed 30,192 people.

In an interview with Japanese media, Mizuho Bank's president-
elect Tadashi Kudo promised his bank would issue loans with
interest rates that would reflect the risks involved.

Japanese banks have been criticized for issuing low interest
loans to financially weak companies, which contributed to the
banking sector's massive bad loan crisis.

"The costs associated with a collapse are enormous," Kudo told
the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper.

"The best way to minimize the occurrence of non-performing
loans is to have lenders discuss ways to rebuild a company as
soon as it gets into financial trouble. We will also strive to
set interest rates to better reflect the risks involved," he told
the financial daily.

Kudo said his bank would closely advise small and medium-sized
companies to help them improve operations, Kyodo News Agency
reported.

"We will become a bank that will be promptly consulted by
customers and study rehabilitation programs together with them,"
he was quoted as saying.

"We will cudgel our brains to prevent loans (to them) from
going bad."

Kudo also said his bank would use the government's loan-buying
Resolution and Collection Corp. to reduce the level of bad debts
on its balance sheets.

To reduce bad loans, "we will actively use Resolution and
Collection Corp. and bulk sales in order to promptly improve the
quality of our assets," Kudo told Kyodo.