1.   The Marine account continued to benefit from rating action and again reported substantial premium growth.

2.   The Marine account reported substantial premium growth following rating action.

3.   Japanese policy-makers played down the impact of the rating action, but failed to hide their indignation.

4.   Intensifying competition by new domestic financial conglomerates and by foreign competitors also contributed to the rating actions, according to the credit agency.

5.   Daiei called the rating action unreasonable as investors continued to buy its shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on diminished concerns over its management.

6.   Toshikazu Shimamura, foreign exchange manager at North Pacific Bank, however, said the rating action may have some adverse impact on yen sentiment among longer term investors.