BRIEFING - ASIA BANKING - JULY 6, 2004.

(From Asia Pulse)

An executive briefing on banking for July 6, 2004, prepared by Asia Pulse (http://www.asiapulse.com), the real-time, Asia-based wire with exclusive news, commercial intelligence and business opportunities.

UFJ TRUST, TOKYO WARD TO HELP SMALLER FIRMS MANAGE PATENTS

TOKYO - UFJ Trust Bank will soon tie up with a ward of Tokyo to help small and midsize businesses protect their intellectual property and use it to raise funds.

UFJ Trust will forge an alliance with the Ota City Industrial Promotion Organization as early as this month in anticipation of the enactment of the revised Trust Business Law, which will relax regulations on trust operations, at the extraordinary Diet session to be convened as early as this fall.

ACB-MASTERCARD LAUNCHES NEW CARDS IN VIETNAM

HANOI - The Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) and MasterCard International launched the first ACB-MasterCard Electronic in Vietnam last Friday.

Last November it began offering the first debit card, the ACB-Visa Electron, now users of the new MasterCard can make payments using Vietnamese dong worldwide.

TOKYO STAR BANK SAILS FAST ON CORPORATE REHAB LOANS

TOKYO - A year since Todd Budge became the first foreigner to head a Japanese bank, Tokyo Star Bank is starting to slowly get on track.

The regional bank under the umbrella …