Japanese bank’s US$61bil CLO binge reaches politicians’ radar

TOKYO: A Japanese agricultural bank’s US$61bil spending spree on bundled leveraged loans abroad has begun to attract the attention of the nation’s politicians.

Government officials answered questions from an opposition party lawmaker yesterday about Norinchukin Bank’s purchases of collateralised loan obligations. The lender is among the biggest buyers of the structured securities, which have been compared to securitized products that soured during the global financial crisis.