Three regional banks in Kyushu are in the final phase of talks on creating a joint holding company by April 2002 to integrate their business operations, bank sources said Friday.
Fukuoka City Bank, Kyushu Bank and Bank of Nagasaki are three of Japan's 58 mutual savings-turned-regional banks, known as second-tier regional banks. Their integration would create one of Japan's major regional banks.
The deal is designed to help the three survive tough competition expected after the government ends its full refund guarantee for commercial bank deposits during bank failures on April 1, 2002, the sources said.
In a brief statement, Fukuoka City Bank acknowledged the three have begun negotiations on integrating their operations but noted that it is too early to make an announcement.
Kyushu Bank said in a separate statement that the three have begun negotiations on integrating their operations under a single holding company but no specifics have been decided yet.
Fukuoka City Bank, based in Fukuoka and listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section, is the second-largest among the second-tier regional banks with deposits of some 2.6 trillion yen.
Kyushu Bank, based in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, and also listed on the TSE's first section, has deposits of about 1 trillion yen.
Nagasaki Bank, based in Nagasaki, is the smallest of the four regional banks in Nagasaki Prefecture and is not listed. It has deposits of about 321 billion yen.