In the Message from the President at the beginning of this report, Mr. Suzuki said he believed that the Group's improvement in business performance is due to the increased CSR-awareness of its employees. It is clear from the Round-Table discussions and other information provided here that the Daiwa Securities Group is making a commendable effort to make itself a company worth working for, especially in the area of providing female employees a supportive environment in which to work. However, employees, as an important group of stakeholders, should be encouraged to read the Sustainability Report more strongly, a necessary measure I suggested in last year's report. If they do so, they can appreciate the positive information presented here, and may feel more inclined to provide direct and indirect support for the company's CSR efforts.
　 It is natural to expect that it, as Japan's top financial institution, should take the lead, still I think the Daiwa Securities Group should be praised for being one of the first signatories to the United Nations Environment Programme Financial Initiative (UNEP FI) charter and the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). Although the tasks of effectively implementing specific initiatives to realize these principles are not easy, I expect the Daiwa Securities Group will have the determination to enforce them successfully.
　 As part of the Group's important CSR efforts, the content in its program for education and research in economics and finance has been expanding and gaining depth each year. Moreover, the Group, as a financial institution, has been tackling the very important issue of achieving "Compliance", and hence, has taken steps to enforce and strengthen its measures. I highly appraise these efforts, but people in the company should note that these do not fit the definition of CSR in Europe. "Compliance" is a different matter from CSR, and the CSR efforts described are seen as kinds of philanthropy and no more than a common-sense endeavor at profit appropriation. There is no reason to be bound by the European definition of CSR, but in light of the increasing number of overseas shareholders, I think there is a need for an explanation in the English version of this report to clarify that given the financial conditions here in Japan, these measures for education and research are to be emphasized as part of Daiwa's core business.
　 In addition to compliance, environmental measures represent core Japanese values when it comes to CSR in Japan. As the Daiwa Securities Group is following its own set of guidelines, different from the ISO 14000 series of environmental management standards, typically used within the Japanese manufacturing industry, I think the Group's concept must to be explained when it implements efforts overseas. As I put forth in my comments in last year's report, in such cases the Group should seek to clarify its efforts to help secure biodiversity.
　 It appears that the Daiwa Securities Group has yet to establish its corporate governance charter, which was originally planned for 2004. There have been major changes in the external legal framework concerning governance, such as the enactments of the Company Law in 2005, and the Financial Products Transaction Law in 2006. Therefore, I presume that this new legislation delayed the establishment of a group corporate governance charter. However, since the Group has already publicly stated its intention to create such a charter, it should address this issue and provide a timeline as to when it will be ready.
　 The investigation into the establishment of voluntary action standards across the Group, a recommendation I made in 2004, has begun. Positive standards can be created that go beyond compliance and place human capital at the core of corporate values. It is important to stipulate the content of the corporate governance charter and voluntary action standards so that corporate governance, and internal control in particular, can be established to enhance corporate value. While setting up an internal control reporting system is an issue to tackle in the future for the Group, I hope that Daiwa Securities will put these and other policies in place to serve as the toprunning example to other companies.
　 The Daiwa Securities Group Sustainability Report has become better every year, and external reaction to it has also been increasingly friendly. Still, with the large volume of information, sections on Corporate Governance and others are a little hard to understand. While the more detailed explanations about business operations are clear, the amount of technical terminology has also increased. Indeed, to appeal to a wider, more general audience, a better explanation of these terms is necessary. I hope that the Group will also take advantage of the web to make future improvements and expand the amount of information being provided.
　 Progress has also been made on the statistical data provided to make results more apparent to the reader. However, based on the "Plan-Do-Check-Act" (PDCA) approach, the sections where only the first two items, "Plan" and "Do", are presented need to be followed up with details about the latter two items, "Check" and "Act". I hope an effort will be made in this respect for future reports.