Mizuho Bank plans to stop hiring seconded insurance company employees by the end of March 2026, following a series of customer data breaches last year, according to local media reports over the last week.
Sources familiar with the matter stated that Mizuho has been in talks with insurance firms to return dozens of employees on loan to their primary companies and stop accepting such workers.
In July 2024, the Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) ordered major non-life insurers – Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, Sompo Japan Insurance, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, and Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance – to report on cases involving seconded employees to insurance agencies that shared policyholder information with their original employer.
The following month, it was revealed that an estimated two to three million customer records had been leaked from Japan’s four property and casualty insurers to independent agencies, like car dealerships, for sales purposes and competitive insights.
Due to violations of the country’s personal information protection and unfair competition prevention law, the FSA has since urged major insurers to submit revised business improvement practices.
In March, the General Insurance Association of Japan also outlined efforts to rebuild public trust, including governance reviews, training programmes, and the creation of a third-party evaluation system.
Apart from Mizuho, Mitsubishi UFJ announced a similar policy in July, following a recent incident in which a Nippon Life seconded employee took internal bank information related to insurance sales without permission.
