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Technology Stocks : Softbank Group Corp -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Edwin S. Fujinaka who wrote (1390)	8/20/1999 10:33:00 AM
From: Netwit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6018

I thought it was wireless internet they were offering? Why such a long build out? Am I missing something?

To: Edwin S. Fujinaka who wrote (1390)	8/23/1999 3:38:00 AM
From: Edwin S. Fujinaka	Respond to of 6018

More commentary from Japan on Softbank-Nasdaq Issued: August 23 ,1999 Is Nasdaq-Japan Trojan horse for U.S. financial standards? U.S. Industry Pushing For Unified Global Settlement Practices BY ATSUSHI SUEMURA A plan by Softbank Corp. and the U.S. National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) to create Nasdaq Japan, a computerized stock exchange on the U.S. model, by the end of next year has the potential to turn the Japanese financial industry upside down. The new market, which will begin by offering access to some 5,000 stocks listed on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation system, is aimed at providing Japanese investors and companies with fund-raising and investment opportunities. In Japan, private companies are prohibited from establishing markets with a price-setting function such as stock exchanges. Recent deregulation has made it possible, however, for a group of six or more securities houses to set up an exchange upon being authorized by the Ministry of Finance. Like the Japanese over-the-counter market, which is managed by the Japan Securities Dealers Association, Softbank and NASD plan to found a second securities dealers association of domestic and overseas brokerages to manage the computerized trading system. Japanese securities exchanges are managed under the participating dealers' self-regulating body, at least from the legal viewpoint. A Nasdaq Japan market would embody Japanese financial authorities' latest deregulation mantra: "free, fair and global." It will be very costly, however, for Nasdaq Japan to satisfy Ministry of Finance requirements. The key to the computerized exchange's success will be whether it can provide investors and companies with benefits that outweigh the costs, and that, in turn, will determine its profitability. The new stock exchange is simply a computer network, with no trading floor, which is what inspired Softbank, currently in the process of turning itself into a comprehensive information enterprise, to form the alliance with NASD. While international stock trading faces legal and practical barriers that vary by country, major American and European brokerages, banks and institutional investors are now working out standards for international electronic securities trading, with an eye toward cutting account-settlement periods sharply in the early 21st century. Point man Worried Japanese securities industry officials say the establishment of Nasdaq Japan could lead to a U.S.-style account-settlement system being forced on to the local industry. NASD Chairman Frank Zarb, a Wall Street veteran and former chairman of Smith Barney Inc., is believed to have extensive influence in Washington, D.C. In Japan, Zarb is perceived as point man for a U.S. financial industry that has been pushing hard for globalization according to U.S. standards. As Japan does not offer satisfactory investment opportunities for its huge pool of personal savings, foreign financial institutions look on the country as a kind of El Dorado. Unless Japan can work out effective strategies and implement serious reforms, its financial system could be swamped by foreign forces. Atsushi Suemura is a senior staff writer of The Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

To: Edwin S. Fujinaka who wrote (1390)	8/23/1999 3:40:00 AM
From: Edwin S. Fujinaka	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6018

More Nasdaq Issued: August 23 ,1999 NASDAQ JAPAN POACHES STAFF FROM RIVAL The company working to establish the Nasdaq Japan stock market has recruited managerial-level employees from the Japan Securities Dealers Association, which oversees Japan's over-the-counter market. Softbank Corp. and the U.S. National Association of Securities Dealers formed the entity that is to set up a Japanese version of the Nasdaq market by the end of 2000. It has also lured employees from a company consigned by JSDA to run the actual operations of the market. Softbank is reportedly headhunting at several brokerage houses and the Tokyo Stock Exchange as well, contacting people well versed in the stock-registration screening process and over-the-counter transactions. Softbank President Masayoshi Son has said that by September he would ask representatives from major brokerages to organize a task force to help prepare for the debut of Nasdaq Japan.