"Japan’s companies had better make use of the advantage of being in the Asian region. The urgent task for them is to promote localization in Asia, in order to secure from European and US firms the fruits that this prospering economy brings forth"
Eisuke Sakakibara, aka Mr Yen, on the next step in Japan’s economic recovery (see Mr Yen: Japanese firms must localize and globalize to prosper)
"The bake-off continues to be a sham. That doesn’t mean it is corrupt. It simply means that decisions are generally not decided at the bake-off. They are made before the bake-off, and the bake-off is there to provide the appearance of fairness and openness"
An Asian investment banker claims that winning mandates in China is not as transparent as some would have us believe (see Why the China rainmaker just won’t go away)
"Our target is not only to sell bonds to foreign buy-and-hold investors, but to get foreign participants to come into the Tokyo markets to play"
Hiroshi Watanabe, Japan’s vice-minister of finance for international affairs, wants foreign investors back in the JGB market and beyond (see Watanabe invites foreign investors to come and play)
"Moody’s makes an Aaas of itself."
The title of a report from research firm CreditSights, reacting to shock news that the rating agency Moody’s had upgraded a number of banks to its highest notch. Moody’s soon backtracked on its new methodology, which had already been rechristened by the market ‘Joke default analysis’ (see Has Moody’s credibility been downgraded? )