Photo/Illutration The headquarters of Shiga Bank in the Shiga prefectural capital of Otsu (Hirokazu Suzuki)

OTSU--Regional Shiga Bank, acting on its motto of “Be tough on ourselves, kind to others and serve society,” is asking all employees to divulge the extent of their debts after a male employee embezzled a customer’s savings.

The institution is the only regional bank headquartered in Shiga Prefecture.

A bank representative told The Asahi Shimbun whether to respond to the request is purely “voluntary.”

However, the bank posted a notice on its website that warned of severe punishment for making a false report, prompting a backlash from some employees who contend the request is being “practically forced.”

The bank announced Sept. 22 that a male employee in his 30s siphoned cash to the tune of 85.6 million yen ($571,000) from a customer’s account.

It stated that the employee spent the money on eating and drinking and lost a large amount through speculative trading.

The employee had chalked up sizable debts and struggled to pay them back, causing him to commit embezzlement, the bank said.

The bank posted the in-house notice on its website on Sept. 26, four days after the revelation.

In the statement, the bank said it will conduct an investigation to assess the financial situation facing all of its employees.

The investigation is aimed at determining three things: (1) The amount of any outstanding loans or cash on credit and the total amount of repayments to date, and if an employee wants the bank to help; (2) if an employee has borrowed money from another employee; and (3) if an employee has or is engaged in speculative investment transactions.

The bank said employees in administrative positions will hand out a questionnaire that requires everybody to answer truthfully, adding that steps 2 and 3 constitute a violation of the bank’s employment regulations.

But in the event an employee volunteers information that breaches its rules, the bank said in the statement it will take the act into account.

“Fraudulent behavior often results from certain problems in daily life that lead to multiple debts such as living beyond one’s means, gambling addiction and losses from speculative investment transactions,” the statement said in explaining its rationale for the investigation.

It sought the understanding and cooperation of its employees.

The statement also pledged that employees “will not suffer any loss in human resources affairs” and the investigation “is premised on an employee’s will and submitting a report voluntarily.”

But in a section that requires the individual to authenticate his or her replies with a personal seal, there is a provision that states, “If by any chance I violate employment regulations by making a false or inaccurate report, I have no objection to being punished severely.”

That inevitably triggered a backlash.

Asking someone about their level of indebtedness is “an invasion of privacy,” one employee fumed. “The bank said whether to respond to it is voluntary, but if I don’t submit it, I will be met with suspicion, so the request is, in effect, being forced.”

A bank representative acknowledged the notice was posted on the company’s website but told The Asahi Shimbun “reporting is voluntary.”

“The purpose is simply to quickly find any employee who is financially struggling and save the person and prevent a scandal from occurring again,” the representative said. “There is no intention to smoke out anything from the ordinary.”

According to the Japanese Bankers Association, of which Shiga Bank is a member, the bank’s request “is unheard of.”

Shiga Bank said it had around 2,000 employees as of late March and total deposits of about 5.67 trillion yen.

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