The governor of Tokyo, Yukio Aoshima, said that all depositors could withdraw funds up to 100m in cash and excluding term deposits that hadn't matured.Although the credit union comes under the supervisory control of the Tokyo metropolitan authority, the Bank of Japan stepped in to support the bail-out for depositors.The bank said that, with the Ministry of Finance, it would "take all necessary measures to protect bona fide depositors and to prevent disruption from spreading to other financial institutions".An analyst in London who specialises in Japanese banking said "there are an awful lot more like Cosmo out there". People who sell up and buy after a period of renting, or partners who split up would be in a grey area.. STEPHEN VINES Hong Kong and PAUL WALLACEThe Japanese government has moved quickly to stem a loss of confidence following the first run on a large financial institution in many years. However, the episode could start a "very serious meltdown" which could lead the government to bring forward a blueprint being drawn up to rescue the beleaguered Japanese banking system, according to Noriko Hama of the Mitsubishi Research Institute in London.Yesterday, the Cosmo Shinyo Kumiai, a credit union in Tokyo, suffered a run, with investors withdrawing an estimated 60bn, (pounds 426m) or 13 per cent of its deposits.Having said over the weekend that it would support the ailing Cosmo with about 30bn, the government changed its mind as withdrawals mounted yesterday It then ordered the union to cease trading. But if the other had an 80 per cent mortgage and paid pounds 20,000 up front, it would still be equity neutral.Mr Marsh said Halifax was also "extremely sceptical" of schemes aimed at helping first-time buyers because it was difficult to define them for Inland Revenue purposes.

Over five years, the properties both fall in value by 20 per cent. If one family had a 100 per cent mortgage it would have 20 per cent negative equity. He said the headline figure gave an exaggerated impression of the impact of negative equity, concentrated in the south of the country, on the housing market.Although it was having a dampening effect on confidence, not everyone with negative equity wanted to move.Gary Marsh, a spokesman for the Halifax, said estimating the number suffering negative equity was virtually impossible - a point made by the Bank of England - because you would have to know each homeowner's financial details, he said.For instance, said Mr Marsh, take two families buying identical houses next to each other for pounds 100,000. Instead of 15 per cent relief, movers would get 25 per cent over five or 10 years.Paul Sonder, Nationwide's head of research, stressed that estimating the number of homeowners suffering negative equity was difficult because of differing measurement techniques.The main reasons the Nationwide's estimate was higher than those of the Bank and Government was that it used a different house price index - which showed a seasonally adjusted fall of 1.3 per cent in the second quarter of this year compared with the first.Mr Sonder said the Nationwide also took into account mortgage arrears, which boosted the size of the problem. One was to offer higher rates of mortgage tax relief to people moving house. "We would like some help from the Government in the Budget in November for first-time buyers," he said.

"I would also like a cut in interest rates."Adrian Coles, director general of the Council of Mortgage Lenders, said: "We certainly recognise negative equity as a serious problem. But it doesn't really matter whether you accept the Bank of England figure or the Nationwide's figure." "Even if you have neutral equity, you still need pounds 5,000 to pounds 6,000 to move house."The CML recently delivered to the Government a series of proposals for solving the negative equity problem, Mr Coles said. JOHN WILLCOCK Financial Correspondent Nationwide Building Society yesterday attacked the Bank of England's figures on negative equity, claiming figures are almost a third higher than the bank's estimate of 925,000.Nationwide reckons about 1.5 million households have negative equity - a home having less value than the mortgage taken out to buy it - in the second quarter of this year.The most up-to-date government figures, covering the first quarter of 1995, suggested there were 886,000 households with negative equity.Nationwide used the figures to launch a new plea for government support for first-time buyers to help kick-start the stagnant housing market.The attack comes as Peter Birch, chief executive of Abbey National, issued a similar plea yesterday, while forecasting a flat housing market for another two to three years. Since the beginning of 1985, Hanson's shares have underperformed the rest of the market by a yawning 37 per cent. In its long history of acquisitions, it has rarely needed a good deal more.. Hanson was pushed into paying a premium of 39 per cent to Eastern's share price last Friday.To secure a recommendation from Eastern's board, it is paying a higher multiple of earnings than either of the hostile bids currently on the sector's table - for Sweb and Manweb.Hanson thinks the deal will enhance earnings, but the cost of borrowings will rise from under 40 per cent of shareholders' funds to 130 per cent, a level not seen since 1984, when the company acquired London Brick and US Industries prompting Moody's, the debt rating agency, to put Hanson's long-term debt rating under review for a possible downgrade.The acquisition of Quantum in 1993 made Hanson a much more cyclical business, a potentially worrying state of affairs as the US and UK economies show signs of slowing. Quantum Chemical turned out to be a good acquisition largely because it was purchased when the industry was in the doldrums and has since benefited from surging bulk chemical prices.The undisputed attractions of Eastern have also come at a serious price.

The company already has lower costs than most of its peers, having cut its headcount sharply over the past three years. Eastern's management is well regarded and stays on board so the injection of Hanson disciplines is less of a factor.There is also none of the benefit Hanson often relies on from acquiring a company at the bottom of an economic cycle. That is important because in some ways this deal is not Hanson's style at all.What the Eastern acquisition does not offer Hanson is much scope for cost-cutting. Offsetting those forward payments against Eastern's profits means its new subsidiary will pay a marginal tax rate of just 13 per cent.Buying a REC also fits in with the industrial conglomerate's focus on basic businesses - energy companies, tobacco, chemicals and building products, all of which have relatively stable demand.Hanson also believes there is considerable scope within the electricity business for diversification into areas such as power generation, gas supply and contracting. With more than half its profits made in the US, and with a relatively high dividend, Hanson pays large amounts of unrelievable advanced corporation tax each year. After the demerger of US Industries in May, taking pounds 855m of debt off the balance sheet, the market convinced itself that a bid of up to pounds 3bn was imminent.Buying a REC suits Hanson, most importantly because of the industry's reliable UK-based earnings stream.

TOM STEVENSON Deputy City Editor While the identity of the target may have been a well-guarded secret, Hanson's plan to acquire an electricity distributor was widely expected. Taken with their existing beneficial shareholdings in the company, the total potential gain rises to about pounds 2m.. The option price in the employee scheme is 175p, compared with the cash alternative of 915p.Manweb's executive directors will make more than pounds 800,000 from exercising options at the level of the cash offer. Last week, Scottish Power said it had allowed pounds 20m in its pounds 1bn bid for Manweb to cover the cost of options and that most would go to staff with options under the savings- related scheme.