Japan’s Regulations Ahead Of The Curve

Since the end of the global crisis, Japan has used quantitative easing to devalue the Yen and kickstart the its economy after languishing for two decades, with promising results so far. But according to Citi analysts Hironari Nozaki and Kana Saito, this isn’t just a case of the Bank of Japan making the most of a lax monetary landscape around the world. Japan’s domestic crisis hit years before Lehman and it may simply be recovering from the regulatory backlash faster.

"Japan experienced a domestic financial crisis from 1997 to 2003 that led to a tightening of financial regulation and supervision centering on tough asset inspections and risk management,” write Nozaki and Saito. “Now that Japanese supervisors have confirmed a recovery...