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To: Mark Fowler who wrote (42415)	2/25/1999 3:48:00 AM
From: GST	Respond to of 164684

Hmmmm -- check the yen bounce: --Thursday February 25, 12:13 am Eastern Time LTCB declines to comment on dollar-buying rumours TOKYO, Feb 25 (Reuters) - The Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan (LTCB) on Thursday refused to comment on market rumours it had been buying billions of dollars against yen in order to write off losses incurred from its overseas operations. LTCB plans to sell overseas assets in line with a restructuring plan announced in December, but the bank could not comment on specific foreign exchange market operations, an LTCB spokesman told Reuters in a telephone interview. "I have no knowledge of the specifics of how the assets will be liquidated nor of specific foreign exchange market operations by the bank and can not confirm the rumours, the spokesman said. There have been rumours in the foreign exchange market this week that LTCB was planning to buy approximately $4.5 billion. Market sources said there was speculation that LTCB would use the dollars to write off losses from its overseas operations. The sources said LTCB, which was put under state control last October, appeared to have already bought about two billion dollars in the foreign exchange market this month, and needed to buy a further $2.5 billion this week. The LTCB spokesman said the rumours may have been caused by LTCB's decision, announced on February 16, to cancel an asset- backed securities programme in the United States worth $2.7 billion. ''It is possible that the cancellation of the project may be a major factor behind the rumours,'' the spokesman said. LTCB has decided to redeem the asset-backed securities before maturity because continuation of the loan securitisation programme was deemed difficult in light of the bank's decision to withdraw from overseas operations, the spokesman said. ''We will purchase the securities from investors after getting their approval,'' the spokesman said. He said LTCB was now in the process of trying to get investors' permission for the early redemption, but could not comment on how much progress had been made. LTCB was put under state control last year after collapsing under bad loans and faltering creditworthiness. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Related News Categories: international, options, US Market News