Japanese Banking Giant Signals Looming Crisis

Jan 24, 2003

Mizuho, the world's largest bank in terms of assets, expects to post a net loss of $16 billion, the largest ever¹⁾incurred by a Japanese company. The loss would be more than double last year's.

Mizuho, like other Japanese banks, has been saddled with tens of billions of dollars in bad loans. The burden grows heavier as more Japanese firms declare bankruptcy¹ due to the ²⁾sluggish economy. Mizuho has also been troubled by technical glitches-more than two million banking² transactions went awry³ last April because of computer errors.

James Fiorillo, a senior banking analyst⁴ at Commerz Securities, said the government may be forced to bail⁵ out Mizuho with taxpayer⁶ money if its capital ratio drops below eight-percent, the legal limit. "I do not know where they are going to get the appropriate level of capital to make up for some of these losses – I think it brings Mizuho in line with some of the more aggressive banks in terms of what they are writing off this year," he said. "But it's not clear how they are going to ³⁾recapitalize themselves and how are they going to deal with the fact that bad debts, new bad debts are still coming on line at a very rapid rate."

Mizuho's top executives say they hope to avoid government intervention⁷ and raise bailout funds from private investors⁸.

The bank was created in September 2000 through the merger⁹ of three big Japanese financial institutions and has so far proved a major disappointment to its founders¹⁰ and shareholders¹¹.

The Bank of Japan, the country's central bank, says the outlook on the country's economy remains¹² grim. In its monthly economic report, the BOJ says Japan's exports and industrial output are flat and warns there is still ⁴⁾substantial uncertainty¹³ about prospects¹⁴ for an economic recovery after more than a decade of weakness.

The report came out one day after the central bank decided¹⁵ to leave monetary¹⁶ policy unchanged, defying a call from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to take bolder action to reverse three years of deflation. Some economists¹⁷ expect the central bank to buy more bonds as early as next month to help shore up the economy.

A group of Japanese oil companies takes a stake in an Iranian oil deal organized by energy giant Royal Dutch/ Shell. The group, let by the Japanese Petroleum¹⁸ Exploration Company, bought a 20-percent share in the $800 million venture to develop two oil fields in Iran. The fields have an estimated reserve of more than one-billion barrels of oil.

Investors will be repaid in oil in exchange for their investment. Japan is eager for a role in Iranian oil production because it is largely dependent on imports from the Middle East.

Amy Bickers¹⁹ VOA news, Tokyo

1)    incur[in5kE:]v.招致

2)    sluggish[5slQ^iF]adj. 不景气的，萧条的

3)    recapitalize[5ri:kE5pitElaiz]vt. 调整资本，改变资本结构

4)    substantial[sEb5stAnFEl]adj. 坚固的, 实质的, 真实的, 充实的

1 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

2 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

3 awry   

adj.扭曲的，错的

参考例句：

• She was in a fury over a plan that had gone awry. 计划出了问题，她很愤怒。
• Something has gone awry in our plans.我们的计划出差错了。

4 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

5 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

6 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

7 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

8 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

9 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

10 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

11 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

13 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

14 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

15 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

16 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

17 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

19 bickers   

v.争吵( bicker的第三人称单数 )；口角；（水等）作潺潺声；闪烁

参考例句：