news blog from Roseanna

Japan banks unlikely to help western rivals-lobby head

“Until we are sure that we can clear the capital requirement, it’s difficult to make a decision to use large amounts of capital. (Japanese businesses) are now actively investing overseas on the back of a stronger yen, but financial institutions are unlikely to rush to join the trend,” he said.Under the Basel III framework to be phased in from 2013, banks are required to have a common equity capital ratio of at least 7 percent and those deemed posing systemic risks will be imposed an additional 1 to 2.5 percent surcharge.Nagayasu’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group invested $9 billion in Morgan Stanley in 2008 when Wall Street firms were battered by market turmoil following the collapse of Lehman Brothers.Earlier this month, MUFG issued a statement expressing support of Morgan Stanley, in which the Japanese bank is the largest shareholder with a 22.4 percent stake.The statement came as Morgan Stanley shares took a dive amid persistent rumours that it has an oversized exposure to troubled Eurozone banks.Nagayasu said the statement was not something requested by Morgan Stanley.”The market was very volatile and the focus of selling was shifting from Bank of America to Morgan Stanley. We thought it was better to send a message,” he said.”(U.S.) bank earnings will start soon and the speculative market storm will die down then. Suspicions tend to rise before that,” he said.