| Page 2 of 2 < |
Asian, European Stocks Plummet
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
"Japan would like to see what it can do to work with other countries to ensure ample capital supply," he told Japan's national broadcaster. Although he did not provide details, he said Japan's emergence from its debt crisis in the 1990s could provide guidance to other countries.
The Nikkei financial newspaper said that the plan will call on the International Monetary Fund to grant emergency loans to countries that run out of cash. Japan wants China and the oil-rich Middle East countries to contribute to the effort, the newspaper said.
Investor jitters in Japan were heightened Friday when Yamato Life Insurance Company, founded in 1911, filed for bankruptcy protection. Losses related to the U.S. sub-prime mortgage mess pushed it over the edge, company officials said.
"With the global crisis in the financial markets there was an unexpectedly rapid and serious price decrease in the valuable securities that we possessed," Takeo Nakazono, the company's president, told reporters.
Analysts here said that Yamato's problems were not typical of banks and other major asset management firms in Japan, a country where exposure to toxic U.S. securities is relatively low and where most major companies are sitting on large piles of cash.
"The collapse of Yamato was probably because of its own failure of asset management," said Michikazu Aoi, professor of corporate management at Keio University in Tokyo. "Obviously other financial institutions will show losses, but it won't be this significant. I don't see this case being followed by others."
Special correspondent Akiko Yamamoto contributed to this report.
