(13 November 2012 – Japan) The Japanese banking system received a slight reprieve on Monday, with Moody’s Investors Service upgrading its outlook from stable to negative.Stability in the banks’ operating environment, asset quality and capital as well as funding and liquidity were all main reasons for Moody’s to revise the ratings.
Moody’s first assigned Japanese banks with the negative outlook in 2008.
Japan’s three megabanks (Mitsubishi UFJ, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc.) now have relatively strong capital ratios, Moody’s said.
It cited Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan’s biggest banking group, which had a common equity capital ratio of more than 9 percent at the end of June, exceeding its 8.5 percent requirement under the Basel III regime.
Overseas loans by MUFJ grew 26 percent to US$207 billion (A$199 billion) in March from a year earlier. Deposits at its two banking units rose 0.3 percent to US$1.5 trillion.