Word: asia
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...financial crisis deepens, Asia has looked on nervously, but with little fear of getting dragged into the maelstrom. Asian financial institutions have generally avoided the kind of risky, subprime mortgage-related investments that have crippled financial firms in the U.S. and Europe. Fitch Ratings figures that at mid-year Asian banks accounted for only 6% of the total losses on subprime investments at the world's banks. (European banks, on the other hand, were responsible for 47%.) Even those financial institutions that carried some exposure - like Japan's Mizuho Financial Group, which has reported subprime-linked losses of more than...
...years ago, Asian bankers got a good finger-wagging from their American and European counterparts as the region's financial sectors melted down in a major crisis. Today, Asia has the right to do some finger-wagging...
This isn't to say that Asia hasn't been affected by America's financial woes. Asian stock markets, despite a recent rally, have tumbled in recent months on concerns over the state of the U.S. economy. Losses may also continue to mount as the financial crisis in the U.S. unfolds. Major Japanese banks, for example, have some $3 billion in exposure to Lehman Bros., which filed for bankruptcy last week. Individuals have also been hurt. In Hong Kong, hundreds of residents who purchased Lehman bonds held a protest on Sunday demanding the government help secure their investments...
...Asia's financial systems "are not expected to face a crisis situation," according to a Standard & Poor's report released this month. The primary reason is that the region's banks had little need to dabble in high-risk U.S. mortgage investments. With economies roaring at home, they found ample opportunities for profit. "They had a lot better things to do with their money," says Deborah Schuler, group credit officer at Moody's in Singapore. "There is real growth in Asia and they were financing...
...South Korea closed 14 merchant banks in December 1997, according to Merrill Lynch. Others were sold or merged. Those that survived cleaned up their act. Credit analysts are more thoroughly trained and better technology systems allow managers to more carefully assess the risk in their portfolios. As a result, Asia's financial institutions are much more conservative than in the past...