Moral responsibility of Dietmembers called into question -- Akahata editorial, August 25 (excerpts)

Akahata of August 17 reported that the political organization of non-bank money lenders had listed 84 Dietmembers from the ruling Liberal Democratic and Komei parties and the opposition Democratic Party of Japan as politicians they would "cooperate" with. The organization buys tickets for these politicians' fundraisers.

The list is an illustration of aggressive lobbying on politicians by non-bank money lenders calling for a raise in the legal upper limit of the Capital Subscription Law at an annual rate of 29.2 percent, which is virtually a limit on loans made by non-bank money lenders.

Even if non-bank money lenders charge the higher interest rates allowed by the Interest Restriction Law, which is less than the legal limit of the Capital Subscription Law, they will not be criminally punished. Many non-bank money lenders give loans at rates between 25 and 29 percent to narrowly escape from violating the Capital Subscription Law.

Under the prolonged extraordinary low-interest rate structure, non-bank money lenders can get bank loans at an interest rate around 2 percent. The funding at relatively low cost and lending money at high interest rates near the legal limit brings about enormous profit to non-bank money lenders.

The legal upper limit under the Capital Subscription Law was lowered to 29.2 percent in June 2000 in the aftermath of the big social problems associated with loans for industrialists and traders. Alarmed at the move to review the limit in June, the concerned political organizations carried out lobbying on politicians to roll back the move. The result is that the current limit is to be continued until a review three years later.

The list of politicians' names is part of evidence that such political maneuvers were made. Giving money to politicians to achieve the aims of an industry amounts to bribery intended to buy political clout.

Utsunomiya Kenji, a lawyer who specializes in so-called consumer loans and black-market loans, said, "The situation has not changed from 20 years ago when non-bank money lenders became notorious for high interest rates, aggressive loaning, and aggressive collection."

The political and moral responsibility of the Dietmembers who accepted lobbying money from non-bank money lenders should be questioned. (end)