Nippon Life Insurance Co. and Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Co. said Tuesday they will jointly establish a company in October specializing in administering corporate pension fund assets.
The firm will be capitalized at about 6 billion yen with equal investments by the two insurers. It will have about 400 staff.
The insurers hope the venture will help them cut their annual systems costs by 2 billion yen from the current 7 billion yen.
The nation's major life insurers will be divided into two groups in the administration of corporate pension funds.
Eight life insurers, including Sumitomo Life Insurance Co., Meiji Life Insurance Co., Mitsui Mutual Life Insurance Co. and Yasuda Mutual Life Insurance Co., have agreed to establish a joint company that will take over their corporate pension fund operations.
IY Bank established
Major retailer Ito-Yokado Co. said Tuesday that it formally set up its banking subsidiary, IY Bank, earlier in the day.
Ito-Yokado, which operates supermarkets as well as convenience stores run by its Seven-Eleven Japan Co., said the new bank is expected to open for business in mid-May after obtaining a bank license from the Financial Services Agency by the end of this month.
The new bank, headed by former Bank of Japan executive director Takashi Anzai, is 51 percent owned by Ito-Yokado and 49 percent by Seven-Eleven Japan. It is initially capitalized at 20.205 billion yen.
The new institution plans to specialize in settlement services through automated teller machines to be set up at more than 3,500 outlets of Ito-Yokado and Seven-Eleven Japan nationwide.