Staff writer

The long-awaited sale of the failed Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan to a foreign investor group is likely to throw the nation's banking industry into another era of fierce competition and sweeping reform.

The Financial Reconstruction Commission announced Tuesday that it has selected an investor group organized by U.S. investment house Ripplewood Holdings L.L.C. to buy the LTCB. This means that a major Japanese bank with assets exceeding 10 trillion yen will come under foreign ownership.