Business / Corporate Jul 8, 2020
Banks with ‘shattered’ business models warned by Japan to adapt
Concerns are mounting that some banks are too weak to withstand the coronavirus-fueled recession and may eventually need to be rescued or delisted.
Yuki Hagiwara
For Yuki Hagiwara's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Business / Corporate Jun 11, 2020
Mizuho to deploy billions in riskier funding to help Japan's firms with virus fallout
The bank is in talks with corporate clients to provide financing via subordinated loans and purchases of preferred shares totaling more than ¥100 billion.
Corporate Apr 27, 2020
Bailouts and delistings loom for Japan’s beleaguered regional banks
Coronavirus crisis expected to cause bad loans to climb and investment income to evaporate
Business / Financial Markets Feb 10, 2020
Japanese asset manager awaits flood of money from regional banks
Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings Inc. anticipates a flood of money from yield-starved regional banks that need help reinvesting cash after redeeming government bonds. A year-old SBI unit that invests on behalf of local banks should see assets at least doubling to ¥300 billion ($2.7 ...
Business Jan 27, 2020
Japanese banks' fortress mentality puts them on trailing edge of fintech revolution
Japan's effort to nudge its more than 100 struggling regional lenders into the digital age is floundering. More than a year after rules to spur open banking were issued, small lenders are stuck in a back-and-forth with startups over fees for access to client account ...
Business / Corporate Jan 17, 2020
MUFG taps math expert as CEO to lead digital transformation amid Japan's negative rates
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. named Hironori Kamezawa as chief executive officer on Friday, turning to a math expert to help Japan's biggest bank forge a path in the digital era. Kamezawa, 58, will take the top post on April 1, the Tokyo-based bank said ...
Business / Corporate Jul 8, 2019
Japan regional bank Concordia targets comeback abroad with Southeast Asia foray
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 ...
Business / Corporate May 27, 2019
Negative rates see Japan's regional banks move into structured finance sector
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 ...
National / Social Issues May 10, 2019
Happy hour is over: MUFJ bank executive takes aim at Japan's 'nominication' drinking culture
It's time to stop drinking with the boss after work. That's the message of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. banking unit executive Saiko Nanri, who wants to change Japan's long-standing culture of drinks between managers and employees. Companies have long encouraged such parties to give workers ...
Business / Economy Apr 1, 2019
Bank of Japan should avoid pushing rates further below zero, head of lenders' association says
The new head of the nation's main banking lobby is warning the Bank of Japan against deepening negative interest rates, signaling that such a move could spur risky investment and put further pressure on lenders' profits. "It will be a quite difficult option to take," ...