Japan is making its biggest push in years to jolt its moribund junk bond market into life in an effort to cut corporate dependence on bank lending ahead of an anticipated wave of domestic dealmaking. Government officials and regulators are canvassing bank chiefs, M&A advisers and private equity executives on how to boost appetite for higher-yielding debt, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.
5 per cent of all funding in Japan for non-financial companies comes from corporate bonds, while bank loans still make up 25 per cent. In the US, almost 10 per cent comes from corporate bonds while 6.4 per cent is from banks, according to statistics compiled by the Japanese government.