Executives at a leading Japanese bank have apologized and taken pay cuts after police arrested an employee who allegedly stole about $9 million worth of valuables from customers’ safe deposit boxes.

A former employee of the MUFG Bank has been arrested for allegedly stealing 20 kilograms of gold bullion worth 260 million yen (US$1.6 million) from customers’ safe deposit boxes.

THE Bank of Japan, after clearly signalling last week’s interest rate hike, may return to its accustomed fuzzy guidance about central bank policy to maintain flexibility when it eventually begins to consider how much tightening is enough.

The head of Japan's MUFG Bank has promised to review the financial institution's safe deposit box operations following a series of alleged thefts by a former employee.

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) is the central bank of Japan. Established under the Bank of Japan Act in 1882, it is a juridical entity and neither a government agency nor a private corporation.

Japan’s biggest banks are nearing a key valuation level for the first time in almost a decade as investors bet that the Bank of Japan will raise interest rates on Friday and accelerate its normalisation of monetary policy.

Out of 19 economists, 18 agreed on prospects of a rate hike, with most pointing to a recent change in tone of the BOJ leadership as driving their expectations.

Japan's central bank raised interest rates to their highest since the 2008 global financial crisis and revised up its inflation forecasts.

This was the highest hike in borrowing rates in Japan since the 2008 financial crisis. Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo on 29 July 2022 (AP) The central bank had last raised the rates in July ...

The thefts at two branches of MUFG Bank spanned four years and ... according to the bank. The bank, one of Japan's three megabanks, was formed in 2006 by the merger of UFJ Bank and Bank of Tokyo ...

At least 60 clients have been victims of the safe deposit box thefts, with the total damage expected to exceed ¥1 billion.

A former employee of MUFG Bank was arrested Tuesday over the alleged theft of valuables from customers' safe deposit boxes, police said. Yukari Imamura, 46, is suspected of stealing around 20 kilograms of gold bars worth around 260 million yen deposited by two male customers at the bank's Nerima