All 6 top banks admit to direct loans to gangsters 日本のトップ６銀行、暴力団との関係を認めた

(Source) http://ajw.asahi.com/article/economy/business/AJ201311150047

By TSUNEO SASAI/ Staff Writer
The nation’s six largest banks have now all admitted to directly extending loans to mobsters, but they refused to disclose details of such lending.
The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank revealed they have outstanding loans to gangsters when they released their half-year earnings results on Nov. 14.
“We do not deny (such loans) exist,” said Nobuyuki Hirano, president of the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
Resona Bank and Shinsei Bank told The Asahi Shimbun they also made loans to gangsters.
The remaining two, Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., disclosed such loans when their presidents appeared at a Lower House committee meeting on Nov. 13.
Previously, the loans-to-mobsters scandal centered on loans through the banks’ affiliated consumer credit companies.
Local ordinances ban businesses from dealing with “anti-social elements.”
Like Mizuho and SMBC, the other banks denied lax screening of loan applicants. They said some borrowers got involved with gangsters after the loans were made.
The banks also said they have tried to end the transactions when they found that gangsters were involved. But they said it is difficult to cancel contracts with these borrowers.
“Our lives are at stake if we try to recover loans given to people related to crime syndicates after establishing ties with them,” a senior official of a bank said.