July 15, 2009

Japan needs a more robust financial services industry to help boost the world's second-largest economy, the new head of the financial regulator said on Tuesday.Katsunori Mikuniya, a 58-year-old veteran bureaucrat with a reputation for expertise in capital markets, also said he would work to improve Tokyo's standing as a global financial centre.

"The population is set to age and shrink further," Mikuniya said at his first news conference as commissioner of the Financial Services Agency (FSA)."A virtuous circle needs to be in place between the role of the financial sector in supporting the real economy and finance as a viable industry."Mikuniya, previously head of the FSA's supervisory division, replaces Takafumi Sato, who served in the position for two years.