Taiga Uranaka

A bank operating in Japan’s least populated area is doing something that may have global repercussions if its peers do the same: the lender is planning to return to the nation’s bonds in a big way as interest rates rise.

Japan’s farm ministry said a panel of outside experts will examine how Norinchukin, the country’s largest agricultural bank, racked up huge paper losses on its bond holdings.

Norinchukin Bank officials briefed a panel investigating losses that Japan’s largest agricultural lender incurred by investing in foreign bonds, kicking off a process designed to prevent a repeat of the fiasco.

Top executives of Japan’s biggest banks and brokerages predicted further gains in domestic share prices and more interest-rate hikes, as they welcomed a new prime minister who started his career in the financial sector.

Japan’s financial regulator plans to examine banks’ lending to private equity and other funds in the US and elsewhere to determine whether they have proper risk management.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s profit surged as gains from wealth and asset management drove performance on the back of increased investor interest in the stock market.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. said it fired an employee who is suspected of having engaged in insider trading.

Mizuho Financial Group Inc. raised its full-year profit forecast and announced a stock buyback after first-half results were boosted by lending income and gains from sales of shareholdings.

(Bloomberg) -- Japan’s biggest banks raised their annual profit forecasts to fresh records and unveiled plans to buy back shares, reaping the rewards from the nation’s rising interest rates and buoyant stock market. Most Read from BloombergUnder Trump, Prepare for New US Transportation PrioritiesZimbabwe City of 700,000 at Risk of Running Dry by Year-EndSaudi Neom Gets $3 Billion Loan Guarantee From Italy Export Credit Agency SaceThe Urban-Rural Divide Over Highway Expansion and EmissionsMitsubi

Norinchukin Bank posted a ¥893.9 billion ($5.8 billion) loss in the fiscal first half as the Japanese agricultural lender got rid of unprofitable foreign bonds from its investment portfolio.