The Japan Housing Finance Agency, with $429bn in assets, said it needs a new business model after copying the failed practices of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The US mortgage-finance companies, seized by the government this year, had been successful until they departed from their original goals and started pursuing higher profit, said Seiichi Shimada, president of the agency in an interview Friday.

'It is inevitable for a listed company to maximize profit in order to please its shareholders,' Shimada said. 'Our mission is to create a stable environment that makes long-term housing loans available for everybody. It would probably be difficult for us to achieve that as a listed company.'

Japan Times