'MUFG Bank, Brokerages Face Possible Penalty For Sharing Client Info; Japan's Securities & Exchange Surveillance Commission To Recommend Financial Authorities For Action Mitsubishi UFJ Financial' - Nikkei
TOKYO -- Japan's Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission is considering recommending that financial authorities take punitive action against a bank and two securities companies under Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group for allegedly sharing customer information without consent, Nikkei has learned.
The commission will seek action against MUFG Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities and Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities, according to multiple sources.
Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities and Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities allegedly received nonpublic information from MUFG Bank on the business strategies of multiple client companies without the customers agreeing to share it. This is believed to include information on a business integration between a Japanese materials maker and a foreign company around 2021.
MUFG Bank is suspected of violating multiple laws and regulations, including hinting at preferential lending rates on the condition of entering into business with group securities companies.
Japan's regulatory "firewall" restricts banks and securities companies in the same group from sharing customer data with each other without customers' consent.