And then there were three

摘要

Ten years ago, Japan had 14 big com-mercial banks. Now, after a financial crisis and the popping of all sorts of asset bubbles, it has three. Along the way, some have collapsed, brought down by bad loans made in the late 1980s, when property and stockmarket frenzies were at their height. Others have been absorbed in a string of mergers. But this has been no beauty parade, in which only the loveliest remain to claim the grand prizes. Those that survive remain ungainly and are not profitable enough. Only now are they devising strategies to equip themselves for an economy on the mend.