This article (JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) Bullish on Japanese Banking Sector) was originally developed by and is property of American Banking News. Checkout American Banking News for up-to-date banking news and peer-to-peer lending news.

JP Morgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) raised its recommendation on the largest Japanese bank, indicating that the firm may be bullish on the Japanese financial sector, helping raise the Nikkei in Monday’s trading.

JP Morgan Chase’s team of analyst raised its recommendation on Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan’s largest bank in terms of market value, to an “overweight” rating up from a “neutral” rating. After the recommendation, the Japanese bank’s stock rose by more than 1.6%.

The upgrade may be an indication that the company may be bullish on Japan’s banking sector as a whole.  Japan’s recession ended during the second quarter of 2009, well ahead of the United States’ end of the recession which didn’t happen for a full quarter after Japan’s return to growth. When Japan got out of its recession, many feared that growth would remain shaky because of high inventories that Japanese export companies had on stock. Others feared that the deteriorating job market in Japan would inhibit growth as well.

The factors which dragged down Japanese growth appear to be having a lessening impact on the world’s second largest economy. During the first quarter of 2010, Japan saw an impressive annualized GDP growth rate of 4.6%.

Japan’s economy now appears to be on the path toward a more sustained recovery which will be beneficial for the Japanese banking industry. JP Morgan Chase’s recommendation on Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is a reflection of that optimism.

This article (Citibank (NYSE: C) Reportedly Seeking Buyer for its Egg Internet Business) was originally developed by and is property of American Banking News. Checkout American Banking News for up-to-date banking news and peer-to-peer lending news.

Citibank (NYSE: C) is rumored to be looking for a buyer for its U.K. based Egg internet banking business, just three years after purchasing it for £546 million.

Several sources have reported that Citi held talks with trade buyers and a private equity firm over the potential sale, which would effectually take Citigroup out of the U.K. retail banking market all together.

Citigroup purchased Debry-based Egg, he world’s largest internet bank, in 2007 before the onset of the recession and the global credit crisis. Egg has been hit hard by the recession as well as competition from other online banking firms. The company posted a loss of £106 million during the second half of 2009.

The rumored sale of Egg is part of Citi’s ongoing effort to sell off non-core business and concentrate on its core operations in order to pay bank the debt that it owes to the Federal Government, which is currently the largest shareholder in Citigroup.

Egg currently has around 1,800 staff members and more than two million customers. The company was founded by Prudential in 1998. After failing to successfully sell the business, Prudential took full control of Egg in 205 by purchasing out minority share holders that valued the bank at just over £900 million at the time.

Following two years of lackluster performance, Prudential agreed to sell the business to Citibank in January of 2007.