Noboru Matsuda
Message from Outside Director

As an outside director, I am always conscious of providing an "outside perspective." I hope to help enhance the Company's governance, corporate value, and sustainable development by utilizing my diverse experiences in working as a prosecutor, in legal affairs, at the Deposit Insurance Corporation of Japan, as an attorney, and as an outside director of other companies. In particular, I intend to focus on advising and supervising management, taking into account both the "offensive" and "defensive" perspectives of governance.

In order to strengthen corporate governance, it is essential to enhance the effectiveness of the Board of Directors. In this regard, I believe we have made gradual progress over the past year or two. First, the Company appointed another outside director, bringing greater diversity to the Board in the appointment of a highly experienced female outside director with a background in administration. The compositions of the Nomination Committee and the Remuneration Committee have also improved, with a majority of outside directors on these committees making them more independent. To make discussions of the Board of Directors more meaningful, the Company has increased opportunities to explain proposals to outside directors ahead of time. Participation in internal events and various training sessions has also increased, and I have seen a notable rise in active exchanges of opinion among external officers. The challenge ahead lies in continuing efforts to address more medium- to long-term issues as agenda items, as well as considering an increase in the number of outside directors to raise diversity still further.

Given the Group's current situation, I strongly hope for the following.

• · Prepare for uncertainties in the post-pandemic business environment; above all, concentrate on recruiting and training personnel with the necessary spirit and ability to survive this period of upheaval
• · Considering recent improprieties, renew awareness that a company is a public entity that cannot develop in a sound manner unless society recognizes it as trustworthy; make efforts to promote and establish a corporate culture that respects compliance (the other half of governance) and strengthen compliance practices