Japan

Carlos Ghosn, the longtime head of Nissan Motor Co. and Renault SA, is preparing for the first of two trials in 2020 for what prosecutors and his former colleagues at Nissan call a pervasive pattern of financial misconduct and raiding of corporate resources for personal gain, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reported. He denies wrongdoing, saying that he’s the victim of a plot by Nissan executives and Japanese government officials to prevent further integration with Renault. A guilty verdict in either case could put the 65-year-old in a Japanese prison through the 2020s.

Prime minister Shinzo Abe has launched Japan’s first fiscal stimulus since 2016 with a larger-than-expected ¥13.2tn ($121bn) package to repair typhoon damage, upgrade infrastructure and invest in new technologies, the Financial Times reported. Described as a “15-month budget”, the spending package is one of the largest since the 2008-09 financial crisis as Japan seeks to fend off weakness in the global economy, drag from a recent rise in consumption tax and the risk of a slowdown after next summer’s Tokyo Olympics.

Nissan’s new chief executive has shelved talks on levelling the ownership structure on its alliance with Renault, saying the two carmakers will focus on reviving their struggling businesses, the Financial Times reported.

Japan Post Bank Co. said it would be cautious about future investment in bundled corporate loans after raising holdings last quarter, as financial authorities increase scrutiny of the practice, Bloomberg News reported. The postal savings giant boosted its holdings of collateralized loan obligations by 15% from June to 1.52 trillion yen ($14 billion) as of Sept. 30, an earnings presentation showed Thursday.

SoftBank is tightening governance at companies it backs as the Japanese conglomerate and its $97bn investment powerhouse try to limit the outsized control of start-up founders and restore confidence in their bets following the near collapse of WeWork, the Financial Times reported. The Tokyo-based group is expected to outline tougher governance standards and restrictions on dual-class share structures on Wednesday as it takes a multibillion-dollar writedown because of bad bets on investments such as the US-based office-sharing group, said people briefed on the plan.

Japan’s financial system is becoming more susceptible to the effects of financial stress abroad, the Bank of Japan has warned, as stagnant returns at home prompt its lenders to ramp up their exposure to US leveraged loans, the Financial Times reported. In its semi-annual Financial System Report, the central bank said that the ratio of overseas to domestic loans at Japanese banks had reached a record high, as the banks fill the gap in international markets left by retreating European rivals.

Japan’s regional banks, desperate to shore up waning earnings, are making risky bets that could blow up in the next economic downturn. In search of returns squeezed by negative interest rates, local lenders have been boosting real-estate and small-business loans that led bad-debt costs to triple last fiscal year, Bloomberg News reported. And with their holdings of Japanese government bonds falling to about half the levels of five years ago, they are increasing exposure to foreign assets.

The brokerage arm of top Japanese lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group will cut about half of its staff in Asia outside of Japan in a restructuring to be finalised as early as Wednesday, two people familiar with the matter said, Reuters reported. Mitsubishi UFJ Securities staff in Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia will be cut to fewer than 100 people from around 180 now, two people said, declining to be identified because the information has not been made public. Sales and trading will be heavily impacted, while debt capital markets will remain largely intact, they said.

Troubled Japanese automotive supplier Akebono Brake Industry said Wednesday it has reached a deal with creditors to wipe away 56 billion yen ($518 million) in debt as part of a restructuring that will dispose of six factories, Nikkei Asian Review reported. The sum represents half of Akebono's bank debt and helps pave the way for a turnaround for the supplier to General Motors, Toyota Motor and Nissan Motor. Banks agreed to the loan forgiveness as well as the turnaround plan during a creditors meeting held Wednesday in Tokyo.

The Bank of Japan is growing more open to the idea of cutting short-term interest rates deeper into negative territory, responding to global risks that are forcing other central banks to cut rates, said people familiar with the bank’s thinking, The Wall Street Journal reported. If the bank were to do so, however, it would look for ways to avoid sharp declines at the longer end of the yield curve, the people said.