Aozora Bank, Ltd. provides various financial products and services to corporate customers, financial institutions, and retail customers primarily in Japan. It offers lending, securitization, business and asset revitalization, asset management, loan syndication, and investment advisory services. For corporate customers, the bank provides a range of asset and liability products and services; a line of funding and investment methods, including loans, loan syndication, securitization, derivative-embedded loans, and risk hedging products; and leveraged finance, real estate finance, and other finance products. For financial institutional clients, it develops and offers structured investment products, syndicated loans, various products and services for business revitalization, and hedging and other risk management products. For retail customers, the bank offers asset management products, such as time deposits, investment trusts, and individual annuity insurance; asset management consulting services; and various other services, such as telephone banking, automated teller machine services; and personal loans. In addition, Aozora Bank, through its subsidiaries, engages in systems development; providing administrative temporary staff services and management consulting services; and venture capital investments. As of September 30, 2005, it had a network of 18 branches in Japan and 4 representative offices internationally. The Bank was founded in 1957 as Nippon Fudosan Bank, Limited and changed its name to Nippon Credit Bank, Ltd. in 1977. Later, it changed its name to Aozora Bank, Ltd. in 2001. The bank is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.