Takefuji Corp., once the symbol of the era of rapid growth in consumer finance, filed for bankruptcy protection in late September under the Corporate Rehabilitation Law, Asahi.com reported in an editorial. Takefuji's failure is not the simple saga of the demise of a single company. It poses a big question to the entire consumer credit industry: How can the sector push through the reforms needed to carve out a viable future for itself? Takefuji collapsed under the crippling burden of refunding borrower claims of overpaid interest.

Shinsei Bank is expected to become the financial adviser for the search of an investor for failed consumer lender Takefuji Corp, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said, Reuters reported. Takefuji last month filed for bankruptcy owing about $5 billion, making it the biggest Japanese consumer lender to fail since a court ruling in 2006 forced the industry to repay borrowers for excessive interest charges. Shinsei Bank's appointment will become official pending court approval, one of the people said. Read more.

Takefuji Corp., a consumer lender that came to symbolize practices that led to a crackdown against the industry, filed for bankruptcy protection with 433.61 billion yen ($5.15 billion) in outstanding debts, the first major failure in an industry suffering under the weight of stricter regulatory control, The Wall Street Journal reported. Takefuji's demise marks the end of an era in an industry that lent millions of yen to lower-income Japanese at sky-high interest rates.

Consumer loan company Takefuji Corp. has decided to file for bankruptcy in the face of mounting claims by borrowers for reimbursement of excessive interest charges and thinning profit margins under tightened consumer loan regulations, sources said Monday, The Japan Times reported. Takefuji President Akira Kiyokawa denied media reports that it would seek court protection from creditors, telling reporters at his home in Yokohama that no decision had been made.

Japan’s ruling Democratic party plans to introduce a supplementary budget of up to $55bn to pay for further stimulus measures aimed at combating the impact of the strong yen and kick-starting the flagging economy, the Financial Times reported. The move highlights growing concerns that the Japanese economy is stagnating in the face of weakness in export markets and a strong yen and that more needs to be done in spite of the government’s September 15 currency market intervention.

Takefuji Corp. shares are poised to drop by their daily limit after a report Japan’s third-biggest consumer lender was preparing to seek bankruptcy protection in what would be the country’s second-biggest filing this year, Bloomberg reported. Takefuji, with 430 billion yen ($5.1 billion) in liabilities as of June 30, is in final talks to file for bankruptcy at the Tokyo District Court, the Nikkei newspaper said, without saying where it obtained the information.

NIS Group Co. fell as much as 39 percent in Tokyo after the Japanese consumer and business lender said its liabilities may exceed assets after Incubator Bank of Japan Ltd. went bankrupt, Bloomberg reported. NIS has 9,720 shares in Incubator Bank, which declared bankruptcy last week, NIS said in a statement on Sept. 10. NIS also has 6.7 billion yen ($79 million) of debt in Incubator Bank. NIS fell 33 percent to 12 yen at 9:19 a.m. in Tokyo, after earlier declining 39 percent to 11 yen.

The Japanese government Friday announced a Y915 billion stimulus package aimed at helping the export-driven economy deal with domestic deflation, a surging yen and a slowdown in overseas markets, Dow Jones reported. The plan, which draws on existing funding to avoid the need for yet more debt, has already been dismissed by economists as too small to have much impact given the scope of Japan's economic malaise. The wide-ranging program includes incentives and regulatory reforms to prop up employment, consumer spending and corporate investment at home.

The Incubator Bank of Japan, a small, unlisted lender that specialises in small business loans, was expected to file for bankruptcy protection on Friday, Japan's financial regulator said, Reuters reported. Depositors will be protected for up to 10 million yen ($119,200) in principal, the regulator said. The Bank of Japan said it expected no adverse impact on the country's banking system from the small lender's failure and financial markets took the news in stride.

Lehman Brothers Holdings' Japanese subsidiary is one of the first major units to get going with its liquidation process, after it got court approval for its debt repayment plans, the Nikkei business daily reported. Lehman Brothers Japan Inc got approval for liquidation from the Tokyo district court and secured support for the plans from a majority of its creditors on Wednesday, and is expected to start repaying its debt by late November, the paper reported.