Japan Post Bank Co Ltd is the successor of the postal-savings system dating to the Meiji era. It was partially privatized in 2015, when the government sold to the public an 11% stake in parent company Japan Post Holdings, which in turn sold 11% stakes in Japan Post Bank and Japan Post Insurance to the public. Japan Post Bank is now 64% owned by Japan Post Holdings, which is majority owned by the government. The law requires Japan Post Holdings to divest itself of Japan Post Bank eventually. Japan Post Bank has 235 direct branches and also accepts deposits and sells investment products at more than 24,000 post offices across the country through a sales-agency agreement with Japan Post (an unlisted subsidiary of Japan Post Holdings).