Japan banks listed as top Lehman lenders, shares tumble

TOKYO: Japanese banking shares plunged on Tuesday after Lehman Brothers said in its bankruptcy filing that two Tokyo-based institutions were its largest lenders.
    
The collapsed Wall Street investment firm said in its bankruptcy papers that Aozora Bank was its largest lender, with a loan of 463 million dollars.
    
But Aozora said in a statement that its net exposure was "significantly less than reported," putting it below 25 million dollars, through the use of risk management instruments.
    
Mizuho Corporate Bank, a unit of Mizuho Financial Group, was the second biggest lender with a loan of 289 million dollars, according to the bankruptcy filing in New York. Mizuho Corporate Bank had no immediate comment.
    
However, Mizuho's sister institution Mizuho Trust and Banking estimated 11.8 billion yen (113 million dollars) in losses due to Lehman's failure.
    
Chuo Mitsui Trust and Banking said it has loans worth 15.0 billion yen to Lehman. Sumitomo Trust and Banking estimated its net exposure to Lehman was worth 6.0 billion yen.
    
Aozora shares were down 20.69 per cent in early afternoon trade, although it rebounded after briefly tumbling by some 25 per cent.
    
Mizuho Financial extended losses, falling 10.68 per cent in early afternoon.
    
Dealers said the market was waiting for more clarity on the exposure of Japanese banks to Lehman.
    
Among other major banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, the world's largest bank by assets, was down 8.74 per cent, also off early lows. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group fell 10.64 per cent.