Bank of America Corp. will help finance Japanese companies doing business in emerging economies, starting with a loan of $30 million to a Sumitomo Corp. subsidiary in Indonesia, The Nikkei reported in its Wednesday morning edition.
Since its purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co. last year, Bank of America has linked up with the Wall Street company's Tokyo branch. Before that, most of its lending to Japanese companies had been done in the U.S. B of A now has a team in Tokyo that can handle the complex risk analysis that goes with emerging-economy lending.
Most loans to overseas units are essentially guaranteed by their parents. Sumitomo decided not to go this route for the B of A loan, which is to close as early as Wednesday. Instead, Nippon Export and Investment Insurance will back it.
