ABSTRACT
If the condition of Japan's banks appeared precarious in early 1999, that of its securities companies could only be described as catastrophic. It was an industry on the verge of collapse, leaderless, directionless, unprofitable, and fearful that the near-term future would be more perilous than the past. By August, a stock market recovery underpinned by the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) "zero interest rate" policy was generating commission income streams not seen for many months. But the strength and duration of the market's recovery were in doubt, and deregulation of brokerage commissions continued to cast a dark shadow over the industry's future.
