Japan's SBI Shinsei Bank to repay $646m in bailout funds by March

Lender aims to complete repayment and apply to relist as early as fiscal 2025

SBI Shinsei Bank is the only major Japanese bank that has not yet repaid government rescue funds from the late 1990s and 2000s. (Photo by Yutaka Miyaguchi)

MASAYUKI SHIKATA and YUKI SEKIGUCHI

January 28, 2025 02:04 JST

TOKYO -- Japan's SBI Shinsei Bank will pay back 100 billion yen ($646 million) in government bailout funds by the end of March, Nikkei has learned, taking a key step toward its goal of relisting on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The Japanese government poured a total of roughly 370 billion yen into SBI Shinsei's predecessor, Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, in 1998 and 2000 in exchange for preferred shares to rescue the troubled lender. Government agencies currently hold a 22.64% stake in SBI Shinsei.