In return, their viability is all but guaranteed by the government, and their places in their keiretsu and society are affirmed. Short of some radical, unforeseen changes, this will not change quickly. With ongoing globalization there is every indication to believe that these banks will become more savvy in telling foreign investors and the media what they want to hear. However, the statements banks and bank executives regularly issue forth do not often seem to mesh with reality. Big changes that were promised in the past have almost never come to pass.
Modest profitability is the key to long-term survival.
This has not changed in 300 years of Japanese banking. The big banks will continue to keep billions worth of dud loans on their books instead of forcing borrowers to restructure. The real competition if and when it comes will be from home-grown competitors. But it is illustrative that even the threat of these new, strong players has been met mostly with the traditional reliance on government intervention. For the short-term investor, there will undoubtedly be ample opportunities to catch upward movement on a number of Japanese bank stocks, especially as the economy recovers and these giants begin to look overseas for acquisitions.