Article 21Making Explanatory Documents on the Status of Business and Property of a Bank Available for Public Inspection

①Each business year, a bank must prepare explanatory documents for the interim period of the business year that is a part of the relevant business year which states the particulars specified by Cabinet Office Order as pertinent to the status of its business and property, prepare explanatory documents for the entire business year which states those particulars, keep those documents at its business offices (other than unmanned business offices and other offices specified by Cabinet Office Order; the same applies in the following paragraph and paragraph (4)), and make them available for public inspection. The same applies to the documents prepared pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article.

③The explanatory documents for the interim period of the business year and those for the entire business year which are prescribed in the first sentence of paragraph (1) or the first sentence of the preceding paragraph may be prepared as electronic or magnetic records.

④If the explanatory documents for the interim period of the business year and those for the entire business year which are prescribed in the first sentence of paragraph (1) or the documents provided for in the second sentence of that paragraph are prepared as electronic or magnetic records, the bank may take a measure that is specified by Cabinet Office Order as a measure that uses electronic or magnetic means to make the information recorded in an electronic or magnetic record available to many and unspecified persons, at its business offices. In such a case, the bank is deemed to have kept the explanatory documents for the interim period of the business year and those for the entire business year which are provided for in the first sentence of paragraph (1) or the documents provided for in the second sentence of that paragraph and made them available for public inspection, pursuant to the provisions of that paragraph.

⑤The provisions of the preceding paragraph apply mutatis mutandis to the explanatory documents for the interim period of the business year and those for the entire business year that are prescribed in the first sentence of paragraph (2) and to the documents prescribed in the second sentence of that paragraph.

⑥Beyond what is provided for in the provisions of the preceding paragraphs, Cabinet Order prescribes the necessary particulars for the application of those provisions, such as the period of time during which the documents referred to in paragraph (1) or (2) are made available for public inspection.

⑦A bank must endeavor to disclose information that is to serve as a reference for the depositors or other customers to learn the status of business and property of the bank and its subsidiary companies, etc., in addition to the particulars prescribed in the preceding paragraphs.