Interestingly, there is no equivalent in Japan of the debate about reform of the financial system that is absorbing policy-makers and bankers in the West.

Following the restructuring following the disasters of the 1990s, Japanese commercial banks are generally seen as boring, slow-moving, indifferently managed - but safe. This is not due to any innate Asian conservatism but rather to the fact that ever since the bubble burst 20 years ago, Japanese bankers and regulatory authorities have been