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

To: Edwin S. Fujinaka who wrote (5260)	6/7/2000 7:11:00 AM
From: Yamakita	Respond to of 6018

The NY Times chimes in with their version of the Nippon Credit Bank developments: nytimes.com

To: Edwin S. Fujinaka who wrote (5260)	6/7/2000 6:33:00 PM
From: Edwin S. Fujinaka	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6018

Just as a small aside, Schwab is currently posting Softbank to customer's accounts at $200. I presume this will be the closing price today that is agreed upon by Blooomberg, and others. At the same time, when the Schwab Global brokers pull up my account, they see Softbank posted at $175. They do not have an explanation for this difference. I think the US Market Makers are cooking the stock price at the close to make it appear that Softbank's price has gone up for several days in a row without a pullback in the US market (as far as the closing price is concerned). Even though the last posted trade will come in at $200 today, I expect that none of us could have sold any stock at $198 if we had a good til cancelled order in today.

To: Edwin S. Fujinaka who wrote (5260)	6/8/2000 4:56:00 PM
From: ms.smartest.person	Respond to of 6018

[my apologies, if already posted] - Reuter's take on the NCB VC plan Doubts on Softbank plan for NCB as start-up lender By Kunio Inoue TOKYO, June 7 (Reuters) - Japanese Internet investor Softbank Corp <9984.T> plans to use Nippon Credit Bank (NCB) as a lender to start-up ventures, but analysts doubt whether the bank would be up to the task. Analysts say financing start-ups is basically the job of a venture capital company or an investment bank and a commercial bank can play only a marginal role at best. A consortium led by Softbank reached a basic agreement with the government on Tuesday over terms for buying NCB, a failed, nationalised commercial bank, and plans to shift it toward Internet banking as well as toward lending to start-ups. "The question arises as to whether NCB has the expertise to measure risks involved in lending to start-ups," said Soichiro Fukuda, analyst at IBJ Securities. "It's a long way for the bank to be up to the task." UBS Warburg downgraded its investment rating on shares in Softbank to "hold" from "buy". "Softbank's strength had been in its lack of ties with the Old Economy," said UBS Warburg analyst Kota Nakako in the report. "Nippon Credit Bank had large loans to Old Economy firms and its restructuring will not be an easy task," the report said. "It is still unclear whether Softbank's management has the ability to operate a bank, and whether it can successfully change a regular banking business into an Internet banking operation." NCB, which collapsed under the weight of bad loans made in an asset-price bubble a decade ago, is a conventional "old Japan" bank that specialises in real estate-related lending. It was placed under state control in December 1998. Japanese commercial banks, whose main business is making corporate loans against real estate collateral, have been reluctant to lend to young start-ups because those firms usually have insufficient collateral to risk against loans. Softbank President Masayoshi Son said that new NCB will consider corporate growth prospects and cash flows when making loans, rather than relying purely on collateral. "The share of lending to start-up firms will initially be around five percent of the total, but will then rise to 10-15 percent," Son told reporters on Tuesday. Analysts are not very convinced, however. "For a commercial bank, lending without collateral is a risky business. NCB would need to seek an expertise from outside by forming alliances with foreign financial firms," said an analyst at a foreign brokerage house. Son said the Softbank consortium, which includes leasing firm Orix Corp <8591.T> and non-life insurer Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co Ltd <8751.T>, is now in talks with two to three foreign banks for their possible capital participation. He gave no names, but Japanese media said the foreign firms were Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc <LEH.N>, Chase Manhattan Corp <CMB.N> and UBS AG <UBSZn.S>. BANK FOR GROUP FIRMS? Analysts say they are also concerned that NCB might turn out to be the main banking source for Softbank's group companies. Softbank, known for its aggressive investments in some 400 Web-related companies worldwide, has stakes in such firms as Yahoo Japan Corp <4689.Q>, a joint venture with U.S. Internet portal Yahoo! <YHOO.O>, and ETrade Japan, an online brokerage joint venture with U.S.-based ETrade Group Inc <EGRP.O>. "If NCB makes loans to a company which Softbank has a stake, Softbank will end up having double risks -- direct equity investment risk and indirect loan risk," said Kota Nakako, analyst at UBS Warburg. "This raises the problem of transparency for investors." Japanese government officials said the problem can be avoided if Softbank follows rules to be introduced shortly to ensure banks' management independence from their parent companies. Softbank shares ended down 2.4 percent at 20,300 yen on Wednesday as investors showed uneasiness over the firm's planned acquisition of NCB. ((Tokyo Equities Desk +81-3 3432 9404 tokyo.newsroom@reuters.com))