Japan Financial Services Minister Matsushita Found Dead

Japanese Financial Services Minister Tadahiro Matsushita has died, an aide at his regional office said. He was 73. Police are investigating the possibility of suicide, a police spokesman said.

Bloomberg reports that Matsushita was found dead at his residence in Tokyo, Etsuko Horita, a member of his staff at his regional office in Kagoshima prefecture on the southwestern island of Kyushu, said by phone. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department concluded that Matsushita committed suicide and has closed the investigation, according to a police spokesman.

Matsushita, a lawmaker from the junior government coalition member the People’s New Party, was appointed to the post by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in June. After taking the role, he vowed to deepen the Financial Services Agency’s probe into aninsider trading scandal that embroiled Nomura Holdings Inc. (8604), the country’s biggest brokerage.

'I was so shocked to hear this sad news', Noda told reporters at his official residence. 'I’m lost for words. He always cheered me up during difficult times'.

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Japan Financial Services Minister Matsushita Dies at 73

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