Treatment of the Japan Post Bank, etc. in the Flow of Funds Accounts and revision of the Flow of Funds Accounts
March 21, 2008
Bank of Japan
Research and Statistics Department
Revision of a sectoral classification --treatment of the Japan Post Bank, etc.
The Japan Post Bank and the Japan Post Insurance have started their business operations in October 2007. The sectoral classification in the Flow of Funds Accounts has been treated as announced in "Treatment of the Japan Post Bank, etc. in the Flow of Funds Accounts" on March 14, 2008.
| Prior to the fourth quarter of 2007 | From the fourth quarter of 2007 |
|---|---|
| Postal savings /Depository corporations/Financial institutions |
Financial institutions for small businesses/Banks /Depository corporations/Financial institutions |
| Postal savings /Depository corporations/Financial institutionsJapan Post Postal Savings Services |
Financial institutions for small businesses/Banks /Depository corporations/Financial institutionsJapan Post Bank (integrating Postal savings accounts of Management Organization for Postal Savings and Postal Life Insurance) |
| Life insurance/Insurance /Insurance and pension funds/Financial institutions |
Life insurance/Insurance /Insurance and pension funds/Financial institutions |
| Life insurance/Insurance /Insurance and pension funds/Financial institutionsJapan Post Postal Life Insurance Services |
Life insurance/Insurance /Insurance and pension funds/Financial institutionsJapan Post Insurance (integrating Postal life insurance accounts of Management Organization for Postal Savings and Postal Life Insurance) |
| Public nonfinancial corporations /Nonfinancial corporations |
Public nonfinancial corporations /Nonfinancial corporations |
| Public nonfinancial corporations /Nonfinancial corporationsJapan Post Postal Services |
|
| Central government/General government | |
| Central government/General governmentJapan Post Holdings |
Japan Post Bank, Japan Post Insurance, Japan Post Service, Japan Post Network and Japan Post Holdings are all classified in public sector.
The changes in the "Financial surplus and deficit" etc, for the fourth quarter of 2007 by changing of "Shares and other equities" (Of which: "equities") in order to reflect the treatment of the Japan Post Bank, etc. are listed below.
| Financial institutions for small businesses | Life insurance | Public nonfinancial corporations | Central government | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The total amounts of financial investment | - | - | +91,945 | +64,398 |
| The total amounts of fund raising | +59,964 | +9,581 | +89,798 | -3,000 |
| Financial surplus and deficit | -59,964 | -9,581 | +2,147 | +67,398 |
| Reconciliation amounts (liability) | +18,044 | - | - | - |
For other items other than "Shares and other equities (of which, "equities"), each amount of financial assets and liabilities in "Postal savings" sector for the third quarter of 2007 is posted under the reconciliation table of "Financial institutions for small businesses" sector in the fourth quarter of 2007.
Revision of data
Evaluation and calculation methods have been changed in some areas. As a result, quarterly data are retroactively revised from the end of fourth quarter of 1997 and annual data from the end of FY1979.
For the revised data, please refer to the Long-Term Time-Series Data.
Major changes in this publication
"Time and savings deposits", "Transferable deposits" and "Accounts receivable/payable" held by Postal savings <liability>
The compilation methods of "Time and savings deposits", "Transferable deposits" and "Accounts receivable/payable" held by postal savings sector in the Japan Post have been changed. Before the revision, "Time and savings deposits" had referred to the sum of ordinary savings, collection savings (including housing collection savings and education collection savings), teigaku savings (including teigaku savings for wage-earner's property accumulation) and time savings (including unpaid interest on postal savings). After the revision, ordinary savings have been posted on "Transferable deposits", and unpaid interest on postal savings has been posted on "Accounts receivable/payable" separately.
Corporate pensions
Each transaction item for the asset side in corporate pensions sector is estimated mainly by building up the data of the holding assets by each type of entrusted institutions. The total amount outstanding of shares have been estimated based on the data of shareholding by types of investors. For the investing assets of investment management companies and defined contribution pension plans, the allocation methods of each asset have been refined by adding investment trust beneficiary certificates, etc.
Securities investment trusts
Before the revision, each asset item for securities investment trusts sector had been mainly based on the portfolio data of entrusted assets compiled by Investment Trusts Association, etc. After the revision, the main data source is changed to the financial data on entrusted assets of the domestically licensed banks (trust accounts).
"Repurchase agreements and securities lending transactions"
For "Securities lending transactions with cash collateral" in "Repurchase agreements and securities lending transactions", the total and the holding amount of each sector had been estimated mainly based on the data from market research on related transactions. After the revision, the estimation methods have been changed by using mainly each sector's financial statement. The residuals that is the difference between the total of assets and the total of liabilities side are posted under domestically licensed banks (Before the revision, the residuals had been posted under securities companies).