SEIZED BY ALLIES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXV, Issue 259, 1 October 1945, Page 5

SEIZED BY ALLIES

MANY JAPANESE BANKS SOURCE OF WAR FINANCE LONDON, Sept. 30. Armed guards were posted at 21 banks and . other financial institutions in seven cities throughout Japan today when General MacArthur clamped down on the source of the nation's war finance.

These organisations carried on no ordinary banking business with the public, but were- devoted solely to financing the war and drawing the profits. None of them existed before the war. , ■■ Although the institutions were controlled absolutely by the Government, it is known that most of the shares were held by members of the Imperial family.

Colonel Kramer, chief of General MacArthur's economic i-and scientific section, is quoted in a Press Association message as saying that the Imperial assets would be the subject of increasingly close Allied scrutiny. All property owners would be treated exactly alike. It was known that the Emperor possessed holdings in banks in Korea and Formosa. Colonel Kramer said the principal object of the seizure of the banks was to untangle -the Government's financial operations in Japanese-occupied areas. It would also help Korea's economy.

The banks seized include the Manchmtuoan Heavy Industry Development Co., which is even greater than Mitsui's. It exploited Manchukuo and made fortunes for bankers, industrialists and Generals. Also seized are branches of the Bank of Chosen, which financial centre in the late 1920's fed smugglers from Korea to China to spread economic chaos. Branches of the Bank of Taiwan, by which industrialists exploited the Philippines, Borneo, and New Guinea and in which Mitsui and .Mitsubishi are believed to be deeply involved are also guarded. All the institutions are marked for liquidation. ■■/ The Americans have also occupied the Bank of Japan to secure its assets, but General MacArthur's headquarters say it is not permanently affected as a financial institution and may reopen tomorrow. However, its ramifications extend to the seized banks. The Americans have also closed the German Bank for East Asia and the FrancoJapanese Bank. The War Crimes Comilission will decide whether the individuals involved will be tried-..