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The article discusses the hostile takeover bid by Oji Paper Co. Ltd. to acquire Hokuetsu Paper Mills Ltd. in Japan. Many factors in the deal has made the protracted battle for Hokuetsu Paper Mills a controversial landmark in Japanese corporate behavior. The media and the market liked the idea of the Oji bid. The deal would create one of the five largest paper companies in the world.

Reports on the plans of Japanese banks to sell an additional $500 million in paper before April 1998. Industrial Bank of Japan; Sanwa Bank; Mitsui Trust Bank; Hokkaido-Takushoku Bank; Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan.

The article reports on the decision of Bank of Japan to double interest rates from 25 basis points (bp) to 50bp in February 2007. The move made an impact on the yen commercial paper (CP) market and caused confusion on some investors. A dealer stated that German investors have been buying a lot of yen paper but were running out of names. According to some dealers, investors in euro-denominated CP were adopting a wait-and-see approach to interest rates.

Focuses on the growth of demand for Japanese convertible bonds in the Euromarket in 2004. Views of Christopher Mothersill, managing director at Morgan Stanley in Tokyo, on the growth; Information on the bond with a soft mandatory conversion provision issued by Japanese camera manufacturer Nikon in February 2004; Prices of bonds sold by Toshiba.

The article looks at the growth of Japan Finance Corp. for Municipal Enterprises (JFM) in the domestic and international bond markets. JFM does not borrow from the government and is considered the largest Japanese issuer in terms of outstanding paper. Part of its fundraising efforts are issuing bonds such as government guaranteed domestic bonds and private placement bonds. It provides loans to local governments specifically at fixed interest rates with a maximum maturity of 28 years and an average final maturity of 25 years.

Reports on the bankruptcy of Japan Leasing Corp. Significance of the company to the asset backed securitization market of Japan; Efforts of the government to protect the company from total collapse; Details on the financial problem of the company.

Presents updates on companies in Japan which offered securities in the country's securities market. Move of Shinsei Bank to launch a securitisation for Japanese residential mortgages; Launching of the mortgage backed security offerings by the Kanto Tsukuba Bank; Move of UFJ Bank to offer securitisation to small and medium sized companies by launching its second asset backed commercial paper conduits.

The article presents update on the market for medium-term notes and commercial papers in Japan. An insurance company in Japan is understood to have bought a batch of Australian dollar notes. The first was a A$380 million 10 year deal from IADB through Barclays Capital. Commonwealth Bank of Australia issued a ¥500 million 30 year power reverse dual currency through RBS. Municipality Finance sold a ¥100 million 30 year non-call five year annually callable note via Daiwa.

The article reports developments in the global financial services market as of late January 2014, particularly in the Japanese market. It cites the move by the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) to sell a private placement in yen worth three billion pounds (29.2 million dollars). It also presents the 25 million euro deal for Region Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur of France.

Japan's current opposition system was introduced in April 2015, and imposes strict deadlines on parties. Yoichi Watanabe provides a guide [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents developments concerning capital market offerings by Japanese banks as of october 3, 1997. Sumitomo Bank's issuance of the third of three 50 billion yen batches of asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) from Pegasus Funding Corp.; Sakura Bank's sale of ABCP in the second issue from its Prime Funding Corp. program on September 25, 1997.

The article focuses on the issues surrounding the Oji Paper's bid for Hokuetsu Paper Mills, which is under the advice of Nomura Bank. Nomura's division CEO for global investment banking, Takashi Yanagiya, made a short statement explaining the factors the bank considers when deciding whether to be a company's financial adviser, including whether or not the deal will contribute to an increase in value for the company's shareholders, other stakeholders, and the company itself. The reason Nomura has had to explain itself like this is because Oji's bid is a hostile one. In Japan, hostile bids just are not the done thing.

The article discusses the success of Poland's investment in the Japanese yen, noting the demand for it's yen-dominated bond in November 2012. It comments on interest in investing in the yen from developing economies including Mexico and Banco do Brasil, as well as addresses Japan's efforts to diversify its markets.

Cites the growth of Japanese asset backed commercial paper (ABCP) market. Status of short-term financing rates of companies from the banks; Difference of ABCP market from the securitization market.

The article offers a look at participation of Japanese government agency sector and corporations in the domestic capital market. The competitive prices offered by the domestic market has continuously sway senior debt issuers from participating offshore. Stephen Apted of Daiwa SMBC affirms that Japanese issues will only return offshore if the pricing is more competitive with the local market.

Reports that a working party formed by the Japan Securities Dealers Association and the Tokyo Stock Exchange has drafted a concept paper outlining rules for the establishment of an onshore securities lending market in Japan. Establishment of reporting and disclosure requirements firms should follow before engaging in lending or borrowing activity; Modeling of Japan's securities lending market after those abroad.

The article reports that the Japanese government has warned against poison pills and other defensive measures by corporates. The government released a consultation paper on August 8, which stated that measures aimed at protecting their own interests by croporates could have a negative effect on productivity and in the long run fail to raise corporate efficiency. The paper, released by the Cabinet Office is at odds with the stance taken by the country's courts in recent weeks. In their dealings with Bull-Dog Sauce Co.'s poison pill administered to U.S. hedge fund Steel Partners LP' unsolicited takeover bid, the Tokyo District Court, Tokyo's High Court and finally Japan's Supreme Court all rejected Steel Partners appeal.

The article reports on the impact of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami which hit northern Japan on March 11, 2011 on the minerals industry. The tsunami destroyed several calcium carbonate plants, including a Fimatec Ltd. plant in Soma, Fukushima prefecture. Among the paper companies affected by the disaster were Nippon Paper, Oji Paper, and Kokuetsu Kishi Paper and Mitsubishi.

The tendered sites under R2 are: Happo-Noshiro in Akita (356MW) Oga-Katagami-Akita in Akita (336MW) Murakami-Tainai in Niigata (352-720MW) Enoshima-Saikai in Nagasaki (124-300MW) Japan plans to construct 30-45GW of offshore wind capacity by 2040 to meet its 2050 carbon neutrality goal. Japan is gearing up for its third round (R3) of offshore wind auction wherein 1.05GW of capacity is expected to be added. [Extracted from the article]

Clearing the sites is the second step in a 7-stage process for starting an offshore wind power plant in Japan. Japan has cleared 2 offshore wind sites off the southern coast of Aomori prefecture for the third round (R3) tender. [Extracted from the article]

The article reports on the strong performance of the Samurai market in August 2008, which enjoyed a diversity of issuers and investors. By the end of August, volumes were already ahead of the record issuance of 2007. The Samurai is rapidly emerging as the new king of the international Japanese bond markets. By August, 18 volumes of Samurai bonds had hit $17.48 billion from 27 deals.

Analyzes the growth of Samurai corporate bonds in the year 2000. Factors that lead to the growth of Samurai market; Information on several companies which invested in Samurai market; Implications of the growth of the Samurai market to the financial services industry in Japan.

The article reports on the impact of the Bank of Japan's announcement of its quantitative easing program on the Kangaroo bond market in April 2013. It mentions expectations of a rush of yen-denominated bonds. German bank Rentenbank's capitalization of the Japanese demand for high yielding paper and the limitation of Japanese involvement in a deal from Kommunalbanken are also addressed.

The article discusses the Japanese Ministry of Justice's release of an interim proposal to amend the nation's Companies Act as of 2018, and it mentions how stock companies are required to provide printed paper copies of shareholder meeting materials such as financial statements and business reports to shareholders. An electronic provision system for the dissemination of shareholder meeting materials is examined, along with the attitudes of shareholders in Japan.

MUFG's vast balance sheet has the potential to make a considerable difference to Japan's net-zero ambitions. But the bank won't be pulling back from polluters, arguing that money needs to flow to where emissions are, not away from them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interviews several local and international investors on the state of investment banking in Japan, as of November 2003. Yoshinari Hirata of Meiji Life insurance Company; Andy Jenkins of Fidelity Investments; Tomoya Masanao of Pimco.

Interviews Japanese and foreign investors on the value of Japanese Government Bonds. Yoshinari Hirata of the treasury and fixed income division of Meiji Life Insurance Co.; Andy Jenkins, general manager of Fidelity Investments; Asoka Woehrman, head of currency in the DWS Investments in Frankfurt, Germany.

The article presents the highlights of a roundtable involving a group of funding experts from leading Japanese borrowers held in Tokyo on August 31, 2009 in which they discussed the impact of the global financial crisis on the bond market. In particular, they talked about the impact of the crisis on their debt issuance strategy as well as on their domestic and international activities. Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) reported that they made a major return to the global bond market, pricing a 2.5 billion-dollar two year global bond issue.

The article focuses on the efforts of regional banks to improve their products and services in Japan. Bank of Yokohama has decided to extend its loans that accept intellectual property right as collateral. Long Term Credit Bank partly funded itself via the issuance of debentures to many regional banks. The non-recourse loan product of Shinsei Bank serves as its core area in its relationship with the regional bank community.

The article presents an interview with Naohiro Nishida and Yukio Egawa of Deutsche Securities Ltd., Jesse Bhattal of Lehman Brothers, Taro Masuyama and Jun Mihara of Merrill Lynch Japan Securities, Yasuyuki Otsu of Mitsubishi Securities Tokyo, Atsuo Akai of Morgan Stanley and Nobuaki Takezawa of Nomura Securities about the Japanese securitisation market. Egawa discusses the factors driving the growth of the mortgage securities market. Nishida comments on the growth of the collateralized debt obligation market.

Using Cayman Islands vehicles for Japanese securitizations brings originators and arrangers the benefit of a user-friendly jurisdiction. Involvement of Cayman Islands special purpose vehicles in Japanese structured finance transactions ranges from the simple use of Cayman corporate vehicles as holding companies at one end of the spectrum to the use, at the other end, of a Cayman company as the entity that itself issues notes or asset-backed commercial paper, enters into credit derivative transactions or assumes obligations in credit-linked loan transactions. At each extreme, the involvement of a Cayman company is testament to the particular features of Cayman Islands corporate and insolvency law that continue 10 make the Cayman Islands the offshore jurisdiction of choice for structured finance transactions.

Deals with the call for professionalism, transparency and liquidity in the Japanese securitization market, as of November 2003. List of the main channels for commercial mortgage backed securities transactions; Reasons behind the decline in commercial mortgage backed securities transactions; Impact of the mortgage backed securities program of the Government Housing Loan Corp. on the market.

Reports on the growth of the Japanese securities market as of November 2003. Factors contributing to the market growth; Channels for commercial mortgage-backed securities; Effect of the mortgage-backed securities program of the Government Housing Loan Corp. (GHLC) on market participants. INSET: The devil is in the data.

Evaluates the international bond issuance of the city of Yokohama, Japan. Guarantor; Rating; Amount; Maturity; Issue price; Bookrunners' comment.

The article focuses on the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market in Japan. The author considers hostile takeovers as hardly life-changing events for investment bankers, but the bid of Oji Paper for rival Hokuetsu Paper Mills in July 2006 was different. Within weeks, Hokuetsu had out-maneuvered Oji Paper simply by selling blocking stakes to Mitsubishi Corporation and Nippon Paper. Masaru Shibata, head of Japan M&A at Lehman Brothers, said there is a consensus that management styles need to change. Bankers are beginning to caution that asset prices might be getting ahead of themselves.

Presents several articles pertaining to international bond issues. Rating of the European Investment Bank; Issue price of Merrill Lynch & Co.; Emerging markets debt at Argentina; Bookrunner's comment on National Bank of Hungary; Market appraisal for the Republic of Turkey; Asset-backed securities in Japan; Guarantor of Countrywide Home Loans; Rating of Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten NV; Bookrunner's comment on General Electric Capital Corp.

Analyzes the trend in the asset securitization market in Japan. Projected growth in the volume of securitized assets in the country; Entry of European and Japanese investors to arrange for deals on asset securitization; Capability of Japanese domestic market; Impact of the trend to domestic and international businesses.

The article reports on the implementation of the electronic share certificate system under the Law on Book-Entry Transfer of Corporate Bonds, Stock and Other Securities on January 5, 2008 in Japan. The author states that the electronic share certificate system enables the transfer of shares become safer and more efficient. In addition, the system enables listed companies to frequently update their list of shareholders and data on quantity of shares owned by each particular shareholder.

Provides information on securitisation priced by Deutsche Bank for the Hung Tai Century Tower in Taipei, Taiwan and talks about other securitisation deals in Japan as of January 7, 2005. Coverage of the tranche deal that parcelled Hung Tai; Price of each tranche; Securitisation deals closed by Mizuho Securities in Japan in 2004; Amount of the paper issued by Gannet V Funding Corp.

A new sector of the Japanese securitization market has opened with the first residential mortgage backed (RMBS) deal by a Japanese regional bank, as of October 2003. The transaction, which took three months to compete, involves the issue of ¥68.9 billion Series 1 Mortgage-backed Trust Certificates, due November 2038. The trust certificates are backed by a pool of housing loan receivables originated by Bank of Yokohama, which have been transferred to a trust created with Mitsubishi Trust & Banking Corp. Yasushi Ikai, credit analyst at Standard and Poor's points out that most private sector Japanese RMBS deals are parceled into trust certificates and, as a result, trust certificate securitization paper has become about as liquid as RMBS bonds. Research analysts note the deal features a standard default trap mechanism as well as a facility to enable cash reserves and loan principal collections to be used to cover temporary interest payment shortfalls. The loan-to-value ratio of 62% is low in the Bank of Yokohama deal, compared to other Japanese RMBS deals, further enhancing the credit rating. One concern in this transaction was the potential concentration risk posed by the regional bank's localized business focus. In order to attain AAA rating, the Bank of Yokohama deal features over-collateralization of approximately 15.5% of the housing loan receivables.

Presents the views of several global borrowers on Japanese liquidity. Reasons for issuing yen debt in either the public and private markets according to Richard Anund, director of treasury and funding at SEK; Plan for the yen funding according to Doris Herrera-Pol, manager of capital markets operations at World Bank treasury; Changes among investors in yen denominated paper according to Patrick Mitchell, director of treasury at Rabobank Group.

SSA activity in the Kangaroo market is picking up after a move in the cross currency basis swap between Australian dollars and euros. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the measures taken by companies at the cost of their work efficiency in Japan. A consultation paper released on August 8, 2007, warned the companies against poison pills and the defensive measures taken by firms. Further the paper stated that the defensive measures which are aimed at protecting their own interest could have a negative effect on productivity and in the long run would hamper its efficiency. The Japanese government passed the triangular Merger Laws to increase foreign direct investment. It is stated that allowing local subsidiaries of foreign companies to use shares in its parent to purchase a Japanese firm, the system was expected to encourage hostile takeovers.

Reports that Fuji Bank will launch a domestic asset backed commercial paper conduit to securitize a form of promissory note unique to Japan. Rating for the Notes Funding Corp. by R&I; Liquidity facility from Fuji Bank; Advantages of securitizing asset backed commercial notes, according to Shinya Aizawa, deputy general manager at Fuji's financial engineering division.

The article deals with the issuance of Shariah-compliant debt papers by credit card issuer Aeon Credit Service of Japan. The issuance was under an agreement signed with joint lead arrangers, managers and bookrunners Aseambankers Malaysia, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and CIMB Investment Bank. According to managing director Kuroda Naruhito, they are looking to raise funds at a rate of 4 to 4.5 percent in three to five years. The papers are guaranteed through a syndication arranged by corporate bank Mizuho.

The article reports that regular shoppers from Japan, China, Taiwan and South Korea are frequent visitors to Paper Bag Princess, one of Los Angeles' most renowned and celebrity-patronised vintage boutiques store. They are primarily interested in iconic American fashion symbols. According to Hawaii's Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, by May 2004, there were 84 percent more Japanese tourists on islands than in the preceding year. Los Angeles designer Kate O'Connor, whose specialty is ponchos made from silk/cotton mixes, bamboo, or viscose, says that she has had a good run on the retail front in Japan.

Of that roughly $400mn to $820mn can be attributed to commercial and industrial properties, according to Verisk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports that Fuji Bank and other Japanese original lenders sold Montgomery Ward bank debt to hedge funds in a scramble to unload the paper before Japan's fiscal year-end in March 1998. Pricing; Bank of Nova Scotia leading the credit.

The article discusses bankers' warning about the impact of possible forced sales from Japan on the sovereign, supranational and agency (SSA) sector. It describes the role of Japanese institutions in several SSA deals, such as the Japanese government's purchase of more than 20 percent of the European Financial Stability Facility's debut issue in January 2011. Some financial analysts feel that Japanese investors will stop buying paper in the short term after the March 2011 earthquake in Japan.