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Mayumi Negishi
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2003
BOJ decides on a risky financing course
The Bank of Japan took another step into the unknown at its Policy Board meeting Tuesday, effectively committing itself to purchasing risk assets in a bid to transform how small and medium-size companies secure funding.
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2003
Asahi Mutual freezes dividend payouts
Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co. will suspend dividend payments on group insurance policies for corporate clients due to declines in capital from large unrealized losses on stockholdings, company officials said Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2003
Nationalization guidelines said lacking teeth, conviction
The Financial Services Agency on Friday published an elaborate set of criteria outlining when and how the government can nationalize a bank, but some analysts called the guidelines useless, pointing out that banks will find legal ways to make ends meet and that the FSA is clearly reluctant to follow...
BUSINESS
Apr 3, 2003
BOJ hopes to blaze money trail to small firms
BOJ officials are working around the clock. Their mission: to carve out a new route money can take from the nation's banks to small businesses.
BUSINESS
Apr 2, 2003
Fraying business sentiment augurs poorly for recovery
Dented by falling stock prices and fears that the war in Iraq will hurt any nascent economic recovery, business sentiment remained weak in March, according to a key Bank of Japan survey released Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 29, 2003
Millea Insurance companies finally announce merger
After a series of false starts, the companies of the Millea Insurance Group on Friday officially announced their merger, which will take place in October 2004.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 26, 2003
New BOJ team moves to stabilize financial system, quiet politicians
The Bank of Japan decided Tuesday to expand its purchases of banks' stockholdings by 50 percent to 3 trillion yen, a move calculated to help banks weather declines in share prices and to quiet some politicians.
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2003
Fukui weighs up asset risk options
BOJ Gov. Toshihiko Fukui indicated Monday that he is willing to consider measures such as buying riskier assets from banks to help money flow into the economy, although he added that the central bank must tread lightly.
BUSINESS
Mar 21, 2003
Dollar rise stymied by fears of long war
The dollar's rise against the yen abated in Tokyo trading Thursday, as dealers finished squaring their position at the eruption of the U.S.-Iraqi conflict.
BUSINESS
Mar 20, 2003
Hayami says Jesus guided him through five-year ordeal
Outgoing Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami on Wednesday credited his faith in God for pulling him through a turbulent and difficult five-year term.
BUSINESS
Mar 19, 2003
Next BOJ chief sets sights on deflation but skirts inflation target debate
Incoming BOJ Gov. Toshihiko Fukui vowed Tuesday to combat the nation's persistent deflation, saying he wants to clear new paths for central bank funds to reach businesses.
BUSINESS
Mar 19, 2003
Embattled Hayami bows out with self-belief intact
The markets are happy to see him go. He is the butt of jokes at the Finance Ministry, where bureaucrats mimic some of his well-worn phrases. Leading politicians in the ruling coalition blame him for the stagnant economy.
BUSINESS
Mar 12, 2003
Coalition ranks hope to ditch reforms
Ruling coalition politicians stood ready Tuesday to urge Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to abandon promised reforms and sidestep internationally recognized mark-to-market accounting rules.
BUSINESS
Mar 7, 2003
UFJ spearheads bid to save small firms
The UFJ group, the nation's fourth-largest lender, will team up with financial services company Orix Corp., trading company Marubeni Corp. and others to set up a fund aimed at turning around small and medium-size firms, UFJ officials said Thursday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2003
Executive, academic to head revival body
The Cabinet decided Friday to appoint a former Nomura Securities Co. executive and a high-profile academic to lead a proposed government-backed entity tasked with restructuring indebted firms and revitalizing industries.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2003
Koizumi names moderate Fukui as central bank chief
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday nominated former Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Toshihiko Fukui, who is not considered an aggressive deflation fighter, as the new BOJ chief, according to government sources.
BUSINESS
Feb 7, 2003
Cuts to guaranteed yields only hope for insurance industry
Keiko Horikoshi, 41, sought out a financial planner last month to make sense of her and her husband's life insurance coverage.
BUSINESS
Jan 24, 2003
Inflation-targeting: facts behind the hyperbole
Academics, central bankers and politicians are divided over the issue currently occupying the center stage of public debate: a monetary policy tool known as inflation-targeting.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 7, 2003
Slump has silver lining: Cosmo chief
The economic slump offers unprecedented opportunities for new firms looking to carve out a niche in Japan, according to Kumi Sato, president of Cosmo Public Relations Corp., a Tokyo-based marketing consulting firm.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 23, 2002
U.S. has learned from Japan's inaction: Quayle
As the United States keeps an eye out for signs of deflation there, it has learned one lesson from Japan's battles.

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