Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ's incoming president, Nobuyuki Hirano, said Friday the lender will invest "hundreds of billions of yen" to acquire commercial banks in Asia and the United States.

"We will expand overseas investment," Hirano said prior to assuming the presidency Sunday.

BTMU, which is under Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan's largest commercial banking group, will seek to increase overseas revenues at an annual pace of more than 10 percent, and to expand the ratio of overseas revenues to total income from nearly 30 percent at present to 40 percent in three to five years, he said.

The lender already has California-based Union Bank under its umbrella, the 20th largest U.S. bank in terms of deposits.

"Acquisitions will be indispensable" to expand revenues further in the United States and to become America's 10th largest bank, Hirano said.

Hirano also put forward a plan to profit from BTMU's institutional strength and the investment banking knowhow of its alliance partner, Morgan Stanley, to expand cross-border merger and acquisition advisory and lending activities.

Regarding the European Central Bank's massive liquidity provision, which has helped reduce fears Europe's banks may become financially unstable, Hirano said the "liquidity provision alone cannot solve the problem of undercapitalization," suggesting the continent's banks may gradually have to begin selling their assets.

Hirano said BTMU will continue holding onto the Japanese government bonds in its portfolio, since long-term bond yields are unlikely to rise dramatically in the near future.

"(But) we must be vigilant about potential future developments while managing risk," he warned.