Japanese banks that have yet to repay past injections of public money will be barred from rolling over their debt into the government's new recapitalization program, The Nikkei reported Tuesday.
Enacted late last year, the program delivers preventive doses of capital to willing financial institutions and is intended to boost their ability to lend to small businesses. Repayment conditions and other terms are lighter than in past bailouts. Sapporo Hokuyo Holdings Inc. and two other banking companies have tapped the program, and seven other financial institutions are considering it.
Meanwhile, 10 banks and financial groups have public debts outstanding since the late 1990s and early 2000s. Refinancing this debt using the recapitalization program would ease their burden, but regulators plan to reject any such attempt.
