Sumitomo Bank and Daiwa Securities Co. have agreed to start three joint ventures next April in a move to secure an edge over competitors under the ongoing ""Big Bang" financial deregulations, the two companies announced Tuesday.
One of the three ventures, tentatively named Daiwa SB Capital Markets, is expected to become an investment-banking-oriented securities firm mainly targeting corporate clients, company officials said.
The 300 billion yen venture, with Daiwa taking a 60 percent stake and Sumitomo the remainder, will integrate Sumitomo's capital market division and Daiwa's coporate-client division, as well as Sumitomo's securities subsidiary, Sumitomo Capital Securities Co., the officials said.
Another venture, SBCM Daiwa Securities Financial Products Co., wil deal in derivatives such as futures and options and introduce new products with 50 billion yen in capital under a 50-50 partnership, they said.
The last investment trust venture, Dicam SB Asset Management Co., will target the growing personal asset management market. Alliances with foreign financial institutions are being considered inthis field, they said.
At a news conference Tuesday, the two company presidents expressed confidence that these joint ventures will become competitive enough to survive the financial Big Bang.