Yoshitaka Kitao wants to build a financial empire in an area shunned by investors: the downtrodden ranks of Japan's regional banks. The chief executive officer of SBI Holdings Inc. says he has close to $1 billion to plow into any of the 104 local lenders ...

Japan's long-suffering savers have put up with virtually zero interest for years, but at least their bank accounts have remained free. That may now change, as speculation mounts over the possible use of further monetary stimulus. Lenders could begin imposing maintenance fees for retail deposit account ...

One of Japan's biggest regional banks is resuming an expansion overseas, 20 years after the country's financial crisis forced it to retreat. Concordia Financial Group Ltd. plans to expand in Asia to offer cash management services to its Japanese corporate clients and infrastructure loans to ...

The nation's regional banks have long been relegated to the sidelines in one of the most lucrative corners of the lending market while regular loans got gradually less profitable. Now some are fighting back. Shizuoka Bank Ltd. has lined up a network of 40 local lenders ...

When Tatsufumi Sakai was named chief executive and president of Mizuho Financial Group this year, many bankers and investors were surprised. The low-key book lover represented a sharp contrast with Yasuhiro Sato, his bold, charismatic predecessor, who was vocal about his ambitions for Japan's second-largest ...

The nation's top financial regulator said regional banks "should not blame the Bank of Japan" for their woes, urging them to explore ways to survive ultralow interest rates. "They should not just sit and wait for the BOJ to change its policy. Will everything be ...

Like many pachinko parlors throughout Japan, Naomi Suzuki's establishment on the outskirts of the city of Fukushima was once full of energy, with the din of bouncing steel balls and garish lights flashing to indicate winnings. But business is quieter for her these days as ...

Nippon Life Insurance Co. will no longer extend loans for, or invest in, coal-fired power plants due to environmental concerns, an official at Japan's biggest life insurer said, in the first such move by a major domestic institutional investor. Japanese banks in recent months have ...

Some ¥3.28 trillion in funding for roads, bridges and thousands of new homes in areas devastated by the tsunami in Tohoku 3½ years ago is still languishing unspent in the bank. That means Keiko Abe is heading into a fourth winter of subzero temperatures ...