Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa on Wednesday defended the planned use of additional public funds to sell Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan to a consortium led by Ripplewood Holdings L.L.C. of the United States, calling the burden nothing new.
The Financial Reconstruction Commission made a formal decision on the matter Tuesday afternoon. By the end of the year, if all goes as planned, LTCB will be the first major Japanese commercial bank under foreign ownership.
LTCB was declared bankrupt with heavy losses under massive bad loans and placed under temporary state control last October.