Tag - banks

 
 

BANKS

Japan’s three megabanks are discussing jointly operating ATMs.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 4, 2025
Japan’s top banks consider teaming up on ATMs to cut costs
The banks are seeing whether costs can be reduced for tasks needed to run ATMs such as monitoring, security and cash transportation.
The cover-up is believed to have started in 2004 or even earlier, according to the government's Tohoku Local Finance Bureau and the Financial Services Agency.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 29, 2025
Japan lender receives business improvement order following cover-up
Former executives of the cooperative concealed fraudulent corporate loans, including through the accounts of depositors opened without their consent.
As part of the tie-up between NTT and SBI Holdings, NTT Docomo will make SBI Sumishin Net Bank a consolidated subsidiary.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 29, 2025
NTT and SBI agree on business and capital tie-up
Through the alliance, the two sides hope to work together to merge the two worlds of telecommunications and finance.
The head office of Chugoku Bank in Okayama
BUSINESS
May 28, 2025
Japan’s ‘Middle Country’ bank is puzzling Chinese tourists
When written in Japanese, Chugoku Bank's name is identical to that of Bank of China.
Seven & I hopes to focus more on its 7-Eleven convenience stores.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
May 28, 2025
Seven & I’s move away from banking leaves market wondering
7-Eleven's ATMs are an important part of the convenience store operator's business.
Over the past three years, banks with the most blended-finance transactions include SMBC, Citigroup, BNP Paribas and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 22, 2025
Sumitomo Mitsui among banks stepping up deals for blended finance
Deals blending public and private funds totaled $18 billion last year, down 21% from 2023, according to Convergence.
SoftBank Group’s investments in AI will be financed through a loan in which Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking and JPMorgan Chase serve as lead underwriters, highlighting the Japanese tech investor's ability to secure funding for its outsize ambitions.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 21, 2025
SoftBank taps Mizuho, SMBC and JPMorgan to lead $15 billion loan
The move is a sign of the Japanese tech investor’s ability to secure financing for its outsize ambitions.
Seven & I Holdings plans to sell part of its stake in Seven Bank to Itochu, sources said, as a part of efforts to improve its corporate value by focusing on its convenience store business.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 21, 2025
Seven & I considers selling portion of Seven Bank shares to Itochu
The move is part of efforts to improve its corporate value by focusing on its convenience store business amid a bid to acquire it.
Sakana AI Chief Operating Officer Ren Ito (left) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group President Hironori Kamezawa in Tokyo on Friday. The companies have entered into a ¥5 billion ($34 million) deal to automate the creation of banking documents.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 19, 2025
Sakana AI and MUFG sign agreement to automate creation of banking documents
The AI Scientist, which was originally designed for automating scientific discovery, including manuscript writing and peer review, will be used.
Goldman Sachs’ unit in Japan, although posting lower profit last year, kept its spot as the most profitable among foreign banks in the country that close their books in December.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 19, 2025
Goldman Sachs leads in a patchy year for foreign banks in Japan
The varied results suggest that 2024 was a tricky year for the world’s largest lenders operating in Japan, as investors adjusted to rising interest rates.
Nippon Life Insurance will stop the practice of temporarily sending employees to work in sales departments of other companies, such as banks, judging that the arrangements may distort fair competition.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 16, 2025
Nippon Life to stop sending staff to sales departments at banks
Critics have said the practice has led to misconduct, in addition to reducing competition.
Mizuho Financial Group forecast on Thursday that its net income will likely climb 6.1% to ¥940 billion ($6.5 billion) in the year that started in April.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2025
Mizuho anticipates record earnings in fiscal 2025 despite tariff dent
Japan's third-largest lender indicated that uncertainty in global trade has led to a more conservative outlook as U.S. tariff measures make business planning less predictable.
Net income is likely to reach ¥2 trillion ($13.7 billion) for the 12 months ending March, up 7.5% from ¥1.86 trillion in the previous fiscal year, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group said on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2025
MUFG expects record profit and joins rivals in buying back shares
Net income is likely to reach ¥2 trillion for the 12 months ending March, up 7.5% from ¥1.86 trillion in the previous fiscal year.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group’s clients are becoming cautious about making deals and investments amid uncertainties over U.S. tariffs.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2025
Sumitomo Mitsui braces for tariff fallout with more buffers
Japan’s second-largest lender expects net income to climb about 10% to ¥1.3 trillion in the year that started in April.
An expected collaboration between Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and SoftBank will see the PayPay smartphone payment service being made available via the Olive general financial app provided by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2025
Sumitomo Mitsui and SoftBank to tie up on digital payment services
The PayPay smartphone payment service operated by a SoftBank affiliate will be made available in Sumitomo Mitsui Banking's Olive app under the partnership.
A branch of SMBC Nikko Securities, a unit of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, in Tokyo
BUSINESS
May 12, 2025
Japan’s megabanks to remain buoyed by BOJ’s long game to hike rates
The central bank stood pat earlier this month after a cycle of rate hikes since March 2024 and halving its economic growth outlook to 0.5% for this fiscal year.
A security guard stands outside a branch of Yes Bank in New Delhi last August.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 10, 2025
Japan's SMBC to buy stake in India's Yes Bank
The Sumitomo Mitsui deal marks the biggest foreign investment in India’s banking sector, and is the latest move by Japanese lenders to expand in the country.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is planning to set up an online bank to lure younger customers heavily relying on smartphones.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 7, 2025
Mitsubishi UFJ to set up online bank in fiscal 2026
The major Japanese financial group aims to lure younger customers who heavily rely on smartphones.
The tie-up between Sumitomo Mitsui Banking and its new partners will target U.S. middle-market companies, according to executives.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 7, 2025
SMBC teams with private lenders to offer $1.7 billion of credit
The tie-up between the Japanese banking conglomerate and its new partners will target U.S. middle-market companies, according to executives.
A potential offer for a stake in India’s Yes Bank will likely be determined by market prices, according to people familiar with the matter.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 6, 2025
SMFG in talks to buy minority stake in India’s Yes Bank
Japan’s aging population and slow growth have been encouraging companies to look elsewhere for expansion, leading to a surge in outbound transactions.

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic