Japan’s financial institutions are reportedly scrambling to sell state bonds issued by European countries that are experiencing fiscal crises.

Japanese broadcaster NHK reports that Japan’s largest asset manager Kokusai Asset Management has sold off all Italian, Spanish and Belgian government bonds from its “Global Sovereign Open” fund.

The Japanese asset management company invested four percent of the two-trillion-yen fund in the European state bonds and has suffered an eight-percent loss from the investment over the past year.

After posting a serious loss over the past month, Japan’s top-eight life insurance companies have also sold 44 percent of their holdings of state bonds issued by five European countries including Italy and Spain.