And to think it looks so normal from the outside. AP Photo/Koji Sasahara
It really was just so BoJ. As central banks go, you see, Japan’s is one of the world’s strangest. Some examples:
The BoJ is one of the only central banks in the world that is publicly traded. (Belgium’s, on which BoJ is modeled, and Switzerland’s are others.) According to the 1942 Bank of Japan Act, the bank’s stated capital—¥100 million at the time—was “to be contributed to by both the government and non-governmental persons,” with the government taking at least 55%. And sure enough, the Bank of Japan is listed over-the-counter on the Jasdaq under ticker 8301. Today, for instance, it closed at ¥45,850 ($517) per share, down 3.5%, though it’s up 26.7% since a year ago. The only shareholder listed by FactSet is New York-based fund Horizon Asset Management, which holds around 10% of shares outstanding. However, shareholders receive neither voting rights nor dividends.
BoJ’s quantitative easing program has also embraced one of the most unconventional approaches to asset-purchasing out there. The vast majority of central banks decline to buy equities outright (for example, the Federal Reserve’s charter forbids it), though a few exceptions are beginning to emerge.
However, Japan’s central bank has no such squeamishness. Exchange-traded funds, corporate bonds, foreign mutual funds, real estate securities—it’s all game for the BoJ (pdf)....MORE
