Augean stables

摘要

Germany's property and equity bubbles were never as inflated as Japan's, but they have nevertheless cast a pall over the German banking system. Now German banks are learning from the Japanese, among others, how to get the mass of non-performing loans off their balance sheets, and turn a pretty penny in the process: Shinsei Bank, the successor of Japan's de-funct Long-Term Credit Bank (LTCB), recently formed a joint-venture with WestLB and Nord/LB, two publicly owned Landes-banken, to do just that. Shinsei Bank's most visible shareholder is J.C. Flowers, an American fund manager that invests in distressed debt. In just five years, J.C. Flowers was able to transform financially crippled LTCB into one of Japan's most successful big banks.