December 20, 2007   * Japan's Corporate Bankruptcies Increase 11.2% Year-on-Year A private credit research agency said that Japanese corporate  bankruptcies jumped 11.18% year-on-year in November to 1,213,  with debts of the failed firms climbing 11.53% to  JPY492.57 billion, Kyodo News reports. According to the report, the collapse is attributed to the  struggling construction and real estate sectors.   The bankruptcy figure, as stated by the Tokyo Shoko Research, is  seen to exceed 14,000 for the first time in four year as the  number between January and November rose 7.0% to 12,994, relates  Kyodo News.  The downfalls are on a moderate uptrend and more  smaller concerns will likely fall by the wayside toward the end  of most companies' business years through March, states Kyodo  News. Kyodo News notes that in the construction industry, bankruptcies  surged 29.6% to 359.  Nine of them collapsed due to tougher  building regulations introduced in June. The law, the report says, was stiffened following a spate of  scandals involving the fabrication of earthquake resistance data  by officially certified architects.
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