[kyon.haruhi.suzumiya]

Banking blues: What's In a Name?

Collapsing American banks continue to make the news. Just the other day in the Mainichi Shimbun, there was an article about a local bank in Georgia, the 24th bank bankruptcy in the country.
The name of the bank, the article said, was "Hebun torasuto banku," or what looked to me like "Heaven Trust Bank." Heaven?! Then I realized that it's meant to be a transliteration of "Haven."
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) website posts a list of failed banks, and there are some ironic names in the mix. A few examples include the Freedom Bank, the Integrity Bank, and the Reliance Bank.
Japan has a bitter past, too. There was the Kofuku Bank ("Happiness Bank"), and the Anzen Shinyo Kumiai ("Safety Credit Union"), both of which collapsed after the bubble burst. Midori Bank ("Green Bank") sank into the red and flopped. Bank after bank returned to square one, as they were taken over or merged with other banks.
What troubled these banks in starting over was their name. Fruit and plant names were popular as being familiar and innocuous, but most had already been trademarked. "Apples and strawberries are sold out. The only thing left is Chinese cabbage," some complained.
With the flagging economy and financial crisis, banks have grown reluctant to issue loans, which poses a huge problem for businesses. "If the current cash-flow problem continues, everyone's going to have to file for black-ink bankruptcy," lamented the president of one small business in a television interview.
What's the point of a bank or credit union if they are unwilling to lend and unwilling to trust? Rumors are going around that the Financial Services Agency is considering instituting a policy that will force financial institutions failing to fulfill their roles to change their names: Reluctance Bank, Non-Trust Credit Union, Withdrawal Financial Group, Cheap Funds... (By Yoko Fukumoto, Economic News Department)