Nippon Credit Bank Plans Monthly Debenture Issue

Nippon Credit Bank is planning to offer its two-year debentures monthly, amid rising costs for issuing its mainline five-year debentures.

"We see demand from institutional investors in the shorter products," a bank spokesman said. The bank had offered the two-year debentures four to five times a year.

Nippon Credit Bank is offering 1.4% debentures due Feb. 20, 1998, with settlement due Jan. 31. In the past, the bank has raised an average $380 million annually through two-year debentures, with the most recent being a 1.2% coupon issue the bank offered last month.

The Nippon Credit Bank spokesman didn't deny that the recent change in setting the coupon for its monthly five-year debentures prompted the shift to shorter maturities for fund-raising.

In December, Nippon Credit for the first time set its five-year debenture coupon differently from that of Industrial Bank of Japan. Beginning April 1, The narrower spread of its lending rate and funding cost will likely depress Nippon Credit's earnings for fiscal 1996 by about $190 million a year, the spokesman said.