Japanese debt: Selling the securitization story

The bad-loan troubles of Japan's banks are no secret. Western vultures have been circling Tokyo for months knowing that at some point the banks would go through their pain threshold. When that happened they would start offloading problem loans at the best prices they could muster. For many Japanese banks that point has been reached and the market in Japanese distressed loans is getting into full swing. US banks especially are expanding distressed trading operations in Tokyo - Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch have all recently expanded their operations.