Local News

The 18 regional banks headquartered in Kyushu and Yamaguchi Prefecture released their financial reports for the year ended March 2010, which showed that 15 were improved in the net profit/loss category from the previous year. This was attributed to the decline in losses from non-performing loans, which in turn resulted from the fewer bankruptcies among customers as a result of government support policies. The recovery in financial markets also meant lower impairment losses on their stock portfolios. Despite the improvements, however, they have not yet reached the stage of a strong recovery.