First, Shinsei is the resurrection of the Long Term Credit Bank. It isn't a city bank, not really. It's still saddled with being a credit bank, so it has a different charter and different requirement of it as far as loans are concerned. It has to show to the government that it has made or extended so many loans every year or it loses its beneficial tax status. Another thing about Shinsei is it got breaks over previous bad loans that most other banks didn't get. This happened because it was supposed to show how American interests could help reform Japanese banking, so it was set up this way to show success. Anyway, if the vulture cap fucks at Ripplewood don't know the basis of their bank's charter, then perhaps they ought to go back to the hellhole they came from (Manhattan).
Second, a deal was already worked out with Daiei, including making it sell off things like its profitable convenience store chain, its profitable credit business, and its profitable security guard/payroll deliver service (which went, interestingly enough, in a MBO to Carlyle Group).
In effect, it was the Japanese way (national government, national ministries, national agencies instead of a court case, since Daiei was not a financial company) of dealing with Daiei's de facto bankruptcy. How different was it really from the deal being worked out for K-Mart, except it was done more quickly? Since this was done legally at the national government level, what right does Shinsei now have to go against the wishes of the other Daiei creditors and the national government? Again, if they think they have that right, then perhaps they ought to go back to where they came from.
Ripplewood is probably desperate for cash to cover all its debt now that the NYC bubble has come undone, so it's making a power play for Daiei assets hoping to profit from a firesale. The mood here is to say screw them, but the American Chamber of Commerce and O'Neill are on Ripplewood's side, so the empire asserts its hegemony once again.
CJ
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