Japan

Domestic loans would need to have grown at least 5%.

Industries across the board are undergoing structural change. This change extends beyond individual firms and spills across industrial sectors. Other industries that have been exposed to the tide of technology-driven structural changes have through the process harnessed technology to be reinvented as new industries befitting this evolution in industrial structure. The financial industry traditionally has been far from the vanguard of this change.

Blame it on the rising costs of foreign-currency funding.

Total assets were up 5.5% in November 2016.

This post addresses trends in Fintech, with a focus on Robo-advisors and the unique attributes of Japan's financial market.

For the last few years, Japanese banks have aggressively expanded their assets overseas, which has helped increased their stubbornly low profitability even after the introduction of negative interest rates by BoJ. Such a successful overseas strategy, profitability-wise, may be at risk due to US$ liquidity developments at a global level.

Banks face maturity and higher interest risks.

This post examines initiatives to accelerate the development of Japan's payment infrastructure through the lens of the Zengin System—the heart of this infrastructure.

This post examines the current status and future outlook of legacy modernisation in Japan's financial industry based on a survey Celent conducted in 2015. The survey targeted insurers, financial institutions, and brokers. Additional information was gathered in follow-up interviews through 2016.

Profits are under threat on several fronts.

Profit dropped in the past months.

Finally, some order in the fragmented sector has come.

Automated services are shaking Japanese banks' foundations.

Is a profit wipe-out looming over the banks?

Due to negative pressure on asset yields.

NIMs are sitll under pressure.