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

To: Taikun who wrote (5264)	6/8/2000 3:08:00 AM
From: Edwin S. Fujinaka	Respond to of 6018

Hopefully, if the eventual Worldwide Nasdaq (including Nasdaq-Japan) can make money clearing all of those trades executed at other exchanges, Nasdaq may actually make a little profit <G>. Anyway, we had a close in Tokyo slightly down at 20,000 yen or $189. Since the US close was at $200, we ought to anticipate a small pullback in the US market tomorrow. I think the market makers are trying to prop up the US Softbank share price in anticipation of imminent availability of the split share on June 23rd so we could see more divergence between the US price and the Tokyo price over the next two weeks (with the US price remaining consistently higher). We'll see. Nikkei Net had this opinion piece on the NCB deal: Wednesday, June 7, 2000 OPINION: NCB Sale Concludes 2nd Bank Nationalization Drama TOKYO (Nikkei)--The agreement by the Financial Reconstruction Commission on Tuesday to sell the nationalized Nippon Credit Bank to a consortium led by Softbank Corp. (9984), signaled the end to a saga which began in 1998 when two failed banks were put under state control amid a crisis that threatened disaster for the Japanese financial system. The accord came the day after the debut of Shinsei Bank, the new name of the other of the nationalized pair, Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, which had earlier been acquired by a group of foreign investors. When all the costs are added up, the taxpayers will have spent around 7 trillion yen to cover the losses at the two lenders, aside from 240 billion yen each in capital contributions from public funds. "It could have been done at less cost, but we had to work in the absence of fixed rules," said Minister for Financial Reconstruction Sadakazu Tanigaki, who heads the commission. To sell a nationalized bank, the FRC must appoint an independent adviser and invite public bids instead of choosing a buyer at its own discretion, a lengthy procedure that can increase the risk of assets depreciating and nationalization costs rising. But use by the FRC of its own discretion has been a noticeable feature of the disposal of Nippon Credit. It is widely believed that from the start, the FRC preferred the Softbank group to a more competitive offer from a U.S. rival on the basis that selecting a foreign buyer for the second time would be a bad choice politically. At any rate, the Japanese banking system has passed an important milestone on the path to reconstruction. There are lingering questions, such as whether the public has gotten a fair deal, or has really picked up its final tab for the nationalization dramas. The answers depend on whether the reprivatized banks can make a clean break with their unfortunate past, and also how much industry regulators, due to be reorganized in July under the banner of a financial agency, can deliver on their promise of enhanced transparency in financial administration. (The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Wednesday morning edition)