1.   Credit cooperatives in Japan are supervised by local governments.

2.   During the year, seven credit cooperatives and one regional bank collapsed under the weight of bad loans.

3.   In the past year, seven Japanese credit cooperatives and one major bank have collapsed under the weight of bad real estate loans.

4.   Last year, two top officials were demoted for allegedly receiving favors from the president of a now-defunct credit cooperative.

5.   Local governments regulate credit cooperatives in Japan, and the Finance Ministry supervises commercial banks.

6.   Murata refused to say which credit cooperatives in the Tokyo area the government is thinking of closing, or how many there are.

7.   Problem loans led to the collapse of two major credit cooperatives and a mid-sized bank over the summer, and higher funding costs overseas for Japanese banks.

8.   Regulators will merge credit cooperatives in Wakayama, Nara, Shiga, Hyogo and Kyoto prefectures into one institution.

9.   Since then, two large credit cooperatives and a major regional bank have failed, requiring nearly all the reserves to bail out depositors.

10.   Strengthened supervision of credit cooperatives by having certified public accountants check their balance sheets.