Kicking the Yakuza in the Assets
Japan attacks its crime syndicates via the banking system
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The yakuza, Japan’s organized-crime syndicates that have reaped riches from extortion to human trafficking, are finding their ranks decimated by the same strategy U.S. authorities used to jail Al Capone: going after the money.
In the government’s latest move against the gangs, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), Japan’s financial regulator, on Nov. 5 began inspections of the country’s three largest banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, and Mizuho Financial Group, to determine whether they are complying with regulations meant to curb transactions with criminal organizations. Spokesmen for the three banks declined to comment on the inspections.