To realise their potential, Japanese real estate investment trusts need both consolidation and to be granted a freer hand by regulators, says Charles Smith.

After the bunker mentality of the early 2000s, when some banks sold off almost all their overseas assets, Japan’s big banks are increasingly turning their attentions abroad. Charles Smith reports.

Japan’s distinctly tiered banking system could change dramatically if local government reform goes ahead, and regional banks are worried by the potential threat that a privatised postal savings bank could pose. Charles Smith reports.

Japan’s banks may be out of hot water in terms of reducing non-performing loans (NPLs) as a percentage of their overall loan portfolios, but they continue to struggle to grow pre-tax profits and assets.

Charles Smith reports on the all-round benefits of deregulating Japan’s municipal finance market and in particular the opportunities that will arise for foreign banks and investors.

In their first major mergers and acquisitions forays overseas, Chinese companies are being buffeted by Sinophobia and their own lack of nous. Sophie Roell looks at recent deals.

Japan’s banks continue to make steady progress back to health, and many would argue that the big banks are already there. With an aggregate pre-tax profit of $51.3bn, the Japanese banking sector has surpassed last year’s $32.4bn, and left 2003’s pre-tax losses of $39.3bn a distant memory.

A series of unfortunate events at the Tokyo Stock Exchange may be symptomatic of the weakness of Japan’s economy as a whole.

Mizuho Financial Group
Terunobu Maeda, CEO

Research shows that foreign banks operating in Japan have found the going increasingly tough during the past 12 months while the US prepaid card market goes from strength to strength. Stephen Timewell explains.