“The decline in the market has created a very good buying opportunity,” Paulson, 53, whose New York-based Paulson & Co. oversees about $30 billion, said in a speech at a hedge-fund seminar hosted by Societe Generale and Lyxor Asset Management in Tokyo today. “Distressed opportunity in the U.S. is shaping up to be the best opportunity in a lifetime.”

“In 2009, we expect this recession is going to be deeper and longer than consensus estimates,” Paulson said. “We don’t think we’re through the banking crisis yet. We think that in many cases, losses the banks will experience will exceed their common equities.”