As the head of the UK’s leading independent safe deposits company, I read with interest — and some surprise — David Keohane’s Business Insight column about bank staff in Japan “dipping into safety deposit boxes” (“Thefts by bank staff cast shadow over Japan’s safety deposit boxes”, April 3).
Our systems in the UK do not make it possible for employees (or anyone but the keyholder) to access safety deposit boxes. The customers have unique keys, so the custodian cannot open their boxes. Any attempt would, in any case, trigger alarms and be visible to multiple CCTV cameras.
Perhaps Japan’s well-established reputation for honesty, which is deeply ingrained in the culture, has allowed some of their banks to forgo the security systems that are prevalent in less trusting societies.
Christopher Barrow
Chief Executive, Metropolitan Safe Custody, London SW7, UK
