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To: The Perfect Hedge who wrote (3451)	9/27/1998 11:06:00 PM
From: psyched	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14427

FWIW: tomorrow should be interesting. what effect,if any do you think this will have? Bankruptcy filing largest ever in Japan 10.38 p.m. ET (239 GMT) September 27, 1998 By Todd Zaun, Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese company with debts of more than $16 billion said Monday that it has filed for bankruptcy, the largest such action in Japan's history. Hiroaki Okamoto, president of Japan Leasing Corp., said the company filed for protection from creditors with the Tokyo District Court late Sunday night. The bankruptcy was the latest in a series of high-profile failures marking Japan's worst recession in decades. A lawyer for the company said it had debts of $16 billion. "I deeply apologize to our creditors and for the effects this will have on the financial system,'' Okamoto said. Hoping to keep the failure from setting off a market meltdown, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi urged traders to be calm. Though the Tokyo market in general was up, LTCB's share price opened sharply lower Monday, briefly hitting an all-time low of 9.5 cents a share before rebounding slightly to 10 cents. LTCB closed at 18 cents a share on Friday. Teikoku Data Bank Ltd., a Tokyo-based credit research firm, said Japan Leasing's bankruptcy would be the biggest ever in Japan. It exceeded the previous highest bankruptcy by Crown Leasing which went under in April, 1997, with debts of $8.7 billion. The figures do not take into account failures which occurred without formal bankruptcy filings, such as the collapse of Yamaichi Securities Co. in November. The company had debts of $22.4 billion. Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa stressed that the quick establishment of a comprehensive plan to stabilize the financial sector "will be greatly beneficial, both domestically and abroad.'' At the center of the political debate over the mountain of bad debt saddling Japan's banks is how to deal with the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, a huge affiliate of Japan Leasing that is also on the verge of collapse. Analysts said delays caused by the political wrangling over what to do about the LTCB were partly to blame. With the LTCB in limbo, they said, reconstruction of the debt-ridden Japan Leasing was virtually impossible. Analysts said the fall of Japan Leasing was also likely to affect reconstruction plans for two other LTCB affiliates — Japan Landic Corp. and Nippon Enterprise Development Corp. Japan Leasing was established in 1963 as Japan's first leasing firm. comments@foxnews.com