Sumitomo Trust Advising Regional Banks On Non-Recourse Loan Projects

Sumitomo Trust Advising Regional Banks On Non-Recourse Loan Projects
2005/08/22, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, page 0, 160 words

TOKYO (Nikkei)--Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co. (8403) has started offering regional banks advice on real estate-related financing projects.
The move is partly designed to deepen ties with regional banks and thereby build stronger operational bases in areas where Sumitomo Trust has traditionally lacked a strong business footing, company officials said.
Sumitomo Trust will offer consulting on projects involving non-recourse loans, whose repayments are made only with proceeds produced by real estate.
The advice will cover such areas as evaluating real estate, analyzing the risks involved and building a system to monitor the profitability of real estate.
Sumitomo Trust has already agreed to provide the service to one regional bank and has received requests from about a dozen others.
The market for non-recourse loans has been rapidly expanding recently, with regional banks alone holding a combined balance of several hundred billion yen. Sumitomo Trust estimates that the market currently stands at 7-8 trillion yen.
(The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Monday morning edition)