P.M. BRIEFING : Japan Plans Drug Money Rules

TOKYO — The Japanese Finance Ministry is to issue guidelines to help local financial institutions stop attempts to launder illegal drug profits, ministry officials said today.

The guidelines, which will take effect Oct. 1, will require banks and securities houses to be sure of the identity of depositors when they take new accounts or make cash transactions above a set amount, the officials said.

“This will be the first step in our fight against drug-money laundering,” one official said of the move to curtail the conversion of illegally obtained funds into financial assets that appear legitimate.

The ministry officials said Japan will report the guidelines to a seven-nation economic summit meeting in Houston on July 9-11, where drug money may be a major topic.