Japan`s Purchases of Bank-Held Shares Grow

Tokyo, Oct. 7 (Jiji Press)--Japan's purchases of bank-held shares
grew in the July-September quarter as banks stepped up selling amid a
recovery in stock prices.
The amount of cumulative purchases by the Bank of Japan and Banks'
Shareholdings Purchase Corp. totaled 320.9 billion yen as of the end of
September, up about 2.1-fold from three months before.
Japanese banks face pressure to unload shareholdings in order to
avoid a repeat of massive losses they booked in the year ended last March
when stock prices tumbled due to the global financial crisis.
In September alone, combined purchases hit a monthly record of
139.3 billion yen as a recent recovery in stock prices apparently made it
easier for banks to sell shares without booking losses.
The central bank began the latest round of purchases in February
and the government-affiliated corporation in March to help mitigate impacts
from banks' share sale.
The cumulative purchases included 193.8 billion yen by the
government affiliate and 127.1 billion yen by the BOJ.
The government affiliate and the BOJ can buy up to 20 trillion yen
and one trillion yen worth of shares, respectively.