Finance
Gamble on US Commercial Property Blows Up for Japan’s Aozora
- Overseas loans account for about a third of bank’s lending
- Shares fall most in 15 years as trading volume surges
The Aozora Bank Ltd. headquarters in Tokyo.
Photographer: Akio Kon/BloombergAozora Bank Ltd. was in a bind in its home market.
The Tokyo-based firm was tiny compared with the megabanks that dominate the nation’s financial industry and lacked the well-defined customer base of regional lenders. So about 10 years ago, it decided to expand aggressively overseas, to the point where nearly a third of its lending was outside Japan.