For much of the 1990s bankers have been talking up the potential for asset securitization in Japan but, every time it seemed the market was taking off, disappointment followed. Goldman Sachs set up a structured finance capability in Tokyo in 1990 to try to build a domestic asset-backed market but had to wait until 1994 before it could arrange its first public bond, a ¥15 billion ($142.5 million) transaction for consumer-finance company Nippon Shinpan.
In the past three and a half years the business seemed finally to have established itself.
Thanks for your interest in Euromoney!
To unlock this article: