Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Non-Tech : E*Trade (NYSE:ET) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: wily who wrote (9099)	10/29/1999 9:03:00 AM
From: Spytrdr	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 13953

Softbank plans online banking, financial services By Bloomberg News Special to CNET News.com October 29, 1999, 4:25 a.m. PT TOKYO--Softbank, a Japanese Internet investment company, plans to open an online bank next year as the centerpiece of an online financial services mall now under construction, according to reports citing unnamed company executives. The $45 billion Internet financier is considering acquiring insolvent Nippon Credit Bank as a first step toward setting up an Internet-based banking service, the Japanese daily Asahi reported. Hiroyoshi Kido, a spokesman for Softbank's finance subsidiary, would say only that the company plans to move into the online banking business "some time in the next few years" and refused to comment on the company's interest in acquiring NCB, a long-term lender nationalized last December after being found insolvent by government inspectors. Softbank's portfolio of more than 100 Internet-related holdings includes Japanese joint ventures with U.S. online brokerage ETrade and InsWeb, a U.S. online insurance marketplace. Last month the company announced plans to build that foundation into the world's first "online finance services mall," where Internet users can go for one-stop shopping for services ranging from banking to stock trading to insurance. Analysts say Softbank's interest in the failed NCB is probably in its operating license rather than its assets, as suggested by the investment company's entry into the online stock trading business. In October 1998, subsidiary ETrade Japan paid an undisclosed sum to acquire money-losing Osawa Securities for the stated purpose of obtaining its license to trade on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. "I would be very surprised if Softbank were to buy bricks and mortar for the sake of bricks and mortar," said Ravy Sarathy, an analyst at Lehman Brothers. "It would be to slot into one of their online entities." Softbank is planning an online bank that will derive its earnings primarily from investments in Internet-related start-ups and commissions on managing customers' assets, the Asahi reported. The company is also looking to form joint ventures with a U.S. or European insurer, the paper said. In June, Softbank's 28 percent-owned affiliate E*Trade acquired online bank Telebanc Financial for $1.5 billion in stock. A month later Softbank teamed up with private investors to launch three new Internet-oriented venture capital funds worth almost $2 billion. Softbank's stock rose 1 percent in Tokyo trading. Copyright 1999, Bloomberg L.P. All Rights Reserved.