banks said Wednesday they will merge on an equal footing, possibly in January, to create the nation's eighth-largest shinkin bank in terms of deposits.
The combined deposits of Asahi Shinkin Bank, Edogawa Shinkin Bank, Kyoseki Shinkin Bank and Bunkyo Shinkin Bank were 1.637 trillion yen as of Jan. 31, they said.
Among Tokyo shinkin banks, the merged bank would be second only to Johnan Shinkin Bank.
Shinkin banks are credit associations roughly equivalent to U.S. savings and loans institutions.
Asahi Shinkin Bank President Kazuro Tsukahara will be president of the new bank, which will be called Asahi Shinkin Bank.
Officials of the four said they do not plan to apply for public funds to replenish their capital bases and facilitate the amalgamation.
But they do plan to reduce the combined workforce as well as overlapping branch offices, they said.
Moves toward a reconfiguration of alliances among shinkin banks nationwide are gathering momentum prior to the impending imposition of a cap on the amount of deposits the government is allowed to reimburse in the event of a bank's failure.
The government's Deposit Insurance Corp. is currently authorized to fully refund depositors at failed banks, a measure designed to avoid bank runs.
But the government will be obliged to slap a limit of 10 million yen for each bank and depositor on time deposits beginning April 1, 2002, and the same for ordinary deposits beginning April 1, 2003.
In January, Doei Shinkin Bank and Minato Shinkin Bank, two Tokyo-based shinkin banks, agreed to merge in October.
Sumitomo Life tieup
Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. said Wednesday it will form an alliance with a new bank to be created in April from the merger of Sakura Bank and Sumitomo Bank.
The tieup with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. is aimed at promoting a new insurance product that Sumitomo Life will introduce in April, the major life insurance company said.
The new product, called Live One, will not only offer life insurance but policyholders will also be able to deposit and withdraw funds, Sumitomo Life said.
Policyholders will be able to carry out fund transactions, including the payment of premiums and transfer of money to other financial products, through Sumitomo Mitsui's Internet-based remittance system.
The major life insurer said it will create a Web site for policyholders to use,effective in July.
Sumitomo Life said it will also work together with Sumitomo Mitsui to develop new services for Live One.
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