Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) has released a statement that the rolling blackouts that the Japanese government has implemented, in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that hit the country on March 11 will not affect SMBC and the central securities depositories (CSD) in Tokyo.
On Friday, March 11, a massive earthquake that measured 8.9 on the Richter scale hit Japan. The quake hit off the North Eastern coast and caused a 10-metre-high tsunami to hit the coast. Japan authorities reported there is a nuclear power emergency situation with four million homes without power, following the largest earthquake to hit Japan on record. Meteorological agencies are also reporting that there is a 70% chance of aftershocks with magnitude of 7 or higher to hit Japan.
About a fifth of the Japan’s nuclear power generation capacity has been shut down by the disaster. To cope with the expected imbalance between demand and supply in electricity, due to the damage of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) power plants affected by the earthquake, decision makers have implemented rolling blackouts to conserve energy until end of April 2011.
The Kanto region, the area in which TEPCO provides electricitywill be divided into five areas.
Each area will have a few hours of scheduled blackout per day on a rotation basis. Central Tokyo district – Chiyoda-ku, Minato-ku – is not subject to the blackout.
“There will be no impact on SMBC custody operations since our operation site is located in central Tokyo district and therefore not subject to the blackout,” said SMBC in a statement, “Also, there will be no impact on the central securities depositories, the Bank of Japan and JASDEC, as they are located within the central Tokyo district as well.”