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Non-Tech : MBK---------Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi Ltd -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lucretius who wrote (7)	3/5/1998 9:27:00 AM
From: chirodoc	Respond to of 170

<<<<<Bank of Tokyo-M'bishi to cut domestic branches ......there will probably be somewhat of a sell-off the end of march early april as investors expect the worst out of japan. i am trying to get a bit of this stock whenever it drops below 14. i agree that dereg in japan + possible tax cuts + the nascent asian recovery means this is as good a bottom as any. ........thanks

To: Lucretius who wrote (7)	3/5/1998 11:51:00 AM
From: chirodoc	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 170

we could still see lower levels...... Thursday March 5, 6:37 am Eastern Time Japan bank handouts do little for confidence By Fumiko Fujisaki TOKYO, March 5 (Reuters) - The top Japanese banks applied for public funds to firm up their capital base on Thursday, a move which analysts said did little to restore confidence in a beleaguered sector. The amount of public money sought by the top 18 banks, including nine commercial banks, and three regional banks totalled about two trillion yen ($15.7 billion). Eight out of the nine commercial banks plan to obtain the funds by issuing subordinated debt worth 100 billion yen ($787 million). The other, Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, said that it would issue preferred shares. ''With today's applications, everybody copied what the others were doing,'' said Akira Takai, an analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research. Banking sources said many of the banks avoided preferred stock issues as it would have involved tougher conditions in return for public funds. Preferred stock is counted as part of core capital and subordinated debts as supplementary capital. In the past month, four major banks -- Sanwa Bank, Industrial Bank of Japan, Sumitomo Bank and Fuji Bank -- announced issues of preferred shares in overseas markets, showing that they could raise capital on their own and did not need official help, the sources said. Japan's parliament approved bills last month freeing up to 30 trillion yen of public money to stablise the nation's financial system. The laws are effective until the end of March 2001. The measures included a step to boost the size of the cushion of capital that banks must hold by using public money of up to 13 trillion yen to buy banks' preferred stock and subordinated debts. They are aimed at easing the current tight lending stance by banks. Some analysts said that the government scheme providing public funds to banks has revived a so-called ''convoy system'' whereby the financially weak banks are protected and pulled along by the stronger banks. While the 21 banks unveiled streamlining plans in order to get the public funds, analysts said those plans, which focused on cutting personnel costs and reducing the number of branches, were insufficient to resolve the ailing sector's woes. James Fiorillo, a senior analyst at ING Barings, said: ''We suspect the whole scheme to have been a political manoeuvre to boost sentiment among bank investors, interbank market participants and depositors rather than an earnest effort to solve the banking system crisis.'' ''The lack of teeth in the current set of measures is further evidence of the government's inability to recognise a true banking crisis,'' he said. A special committee to screen banks that apply for public funds will decide whether to accept the applications next week. If accepted, the money will be given to the banks by the end of March, subject to cabinet approval. Analysts said that it is unlikely that the committee will reject any of the banks' applications.