Tag - banks

 
 

BANKS

The Financial Services Agency headquarters in Tokyo. The regulator has called on regional banks to disclose the amount and market value of their high-yield loans backed by government bonds.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2025
Regulator to ramp up scrutiny of banks’ repackaged JGBs
A senior official at the Financial Services Agency called on lenders to disclose the amount and market value of their holdings, sources said.
Eight banks have entered into an agreement with the National Police Agency to share information on suspicious accounts as part of efforts to combat special fraud schemes.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 18, 2025
Major banks team up with police to combat special fraud
Under a new agreement, the banks will send information on suspicious accounts directly to the police instead of channeling it through the Financial Services Agency.
Jeremy Allaire, chief executive officer of Circle Internet Financial (center) celebrates during the company's initial public offering on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on June 5.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 18, 2025
A digital dollar is a trade war weapon, and Europe may be a primary target
Stablecoins could serve to entrench the existing tech and monetary order dominated by the U.S., as 95% of them are dollar-denominated. The euro commands less than 1%.
India is experiencing a worrying rise in digital payment scams fueled by rapid growth in instant payment systems.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2025
India’s bank fraud needs a sensible response
It’s time to allow new payment networks. Let them charge fees to offer institutional-grade security to retail customers. 
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking will be one of the funding sources for a wealth management joint venture by Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and SBI Holdings.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 16, 2025
Sumitomo Mitsui and SBI to launch wealth management joint venture
Policymakers in Japan are encouraging individual investors to put more of their money in riskier assets such as equities.
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.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past