REUTERS -

The Japanese banking crisis shows no signs of ending. If anything, it's getting worse. Following last week's news that Origami Bank had folded, we hear that Sumo Bank has gone belly-up and Bonsai Bank's growth has been stunted, and now it plans to cut back some of its branches.

Karaoke Bank is up for sale for a song. Meanwhile, shares in Kamikaze Bank have nose-dived and staff at Karate Bank got the chop.

Analysts report that there is something fishy going on at Sushi Bank and staff fear they may get a raw deal. Even Miso Bank is in the soup, and an audit of the Tofu Bank is turning up questions about its real assets. The only ray of light in all this is the arrival of a new bank rising out of the ashes of the others. Its name --- Hiroshima Savings. Slogan ---"We've survived worse than this." Its merger with the Teppanyaki Bank is still hot and on the table.

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), October 25, 1999

Answers

Uh, raaaiight.

-- Dean -- from (almost) Duh Moines (dtmiller@midiowa.net), October 25, 1999.

You missed the Catfish bank is tanking.

-- Dean -- from (almost) Duh Moines (dtmiller@midiowa.net), October 25, 1999.

Andy,

That's a jewel!! lol :>) The sad part is that it's really true, if one changes the names to protect the guilty.......

DON

-- Don Chen (DChen@musician.org), October 25, 1999.

At least the Harakiri Mutual Glorious Destiny Bank is still solvent.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), October 25, 1999.

Tom, lol!

-- silver ion (ag3@interlog.com), October 25, 1999.

You forgot the Unit 731 Life and Health Insurance Company (see History Channel "Hell in Manchuria" episode).

-- K. Stevens (kstevens@ It's ALL going away in January.com), October 25, 1999.

Oh Andi,you velly velly long about our banks So sorry you not understan that Gaigen nebber recover their former influence here,and we learning chinese. And for our banking system we yen for the gold old days!

-- sockittooyou Yakuza (mustdevest@wall street.com), October 25, 1999.

Link

Tuesday October 26, 4:42 am Eastern Time

BOJ to set rates above ODR on emergency Y2K loans

TOKYO, Oct 26 (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan will set interest rates higher than the 0.5 percent official discount rate on any emergency, uncollateralised loans to private banks necessitated by problems with the Y2K bug, a BOJ official said on Tuesday. Such uncollateralised loans would be made in accordance with article 37 of the BOJ Law, said the official at the BOJ's financial and payment system office.

``With regard to article 37 loans, the terms including interest rate will be decided by the Policy Board on a case-by-case basis, in accordance with relevant laws,'' the official said.

Under article 37, the central bank can provide uncollateralised loans to private financial institutions which suffer temporary liquidity shortages due to unforeseen mechanical malfunctions.

But it says such loans will be made only in cases where a liquidity shortage would severely hinder the operation of the financial institution and cause systemic risk.

The BOJ charges an interest rate equal to the official discount rate of 0.50 percent on loans made in exchange for higher quality collateral such as Japanese government bonds.

An interest rate of 0.75 percent is levied on loans made in exchange for lower quality collateral.

``Because they are uncollateralised, interest rates (on article 37 loans)...will probably be set more strictly than the rates on collateralised lending,'' the BOJ official said.

-- Trends (in@the.market), October 26, 1999.