Finance Ministry not to disclose details of settlement with Nomura

Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek has said the Finance Ministry will not disclose the details of the settlement with the Japanese bank Nomura concerning the case of the collapsed Czech bank IPB in which Nomura had invested heavily. Mr Topolanek said the reason was a pending arbitration between the Czech state and the CSOB bank which took over Nomura in 2000. The Finance Ministry had announced in March that the agreement would be disclosed at the beginning of April at the latest. Deputy Chairman of the lower house, Lubomir Zaoralek, says the decision by the Finance Ministry not to disclose the agreement is in breach of the law.