Tag - banks

 
 

BANKS

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.
A system failure at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation has made automated teller machines at some branches in the Kansai western Japan region unavailable.

The cause of the failure is under investigation, and there is no prospect of when the system will be restored, the Japanese bank said.
JAPAN
Apr 29, 2025
System failure hits Sumitomo Mitsui ATMs
The cause of the failure is under investigation, and there is no timeline yet for restoring the system, the Japanese bank said.
Resona Bank officials attend a ceremony in Los Angeles on Friday to open its first U.S. office in 21 years.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 27, 2025
Resona Bank sets up U.S. office for first time in 21 years
The move reflects the bank's aim to enhance business support for some 1,200 client companies operating in the United States.
Regional lenders Daishi Hokuetsu Financial Group and Gunma Bank have entered into an agreement to consolidate their businesses in 2027.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2025
Regional lenders Daishi Hokuetsu and Gunma Bank agree to consolidate
The banks have entered a memorandum of understanding to integrate their businesses under a holding company structure on or around April 1, 2027.
Jerome Powell, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, speaks during an event in Chicago earlier this month.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 24, 2025
Federal Reserve at a policy and political crossroads poses global risks
A divergence between the Fed and other central banks could stress dollar funding markets and make financing more expensive for less-developed countries.
Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura says he hopes the prefecture's new rule prohibiting older people from using ATMs while talking on phones becomes widely known and eventually accepted as common sense.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Apr 24, 2025
Osaka to ban older people from using ATMs while on the phone to help stop scams
While the ban does not include penalties, the Osaka prefectural government hopes to build public consensus to help prevent scams.
MUFG Bank, a unit of the nation’s biggest banking group, is among firms that recently scrapped a clerical job category that consisted almost exclusively of women, a sign that the financial sector is finally getting more serious about reducing gender inequalities.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 23, 2025
Top Japanese firms scrap employment system that held women back
Abandoning the clerical job category may increase opportunities for women to advance to more senior positions.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a government meeting on crime prevention measures at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 22, 2025
In fight against fraud, Japan seeks new weapon: undercover bank accounts
The government is looking to allow the police to set up bank accounts under false names to track the movement of funds obtained by fraudsters.
Nomura has been expanding in asset management in a bid to generate more stable income and reduce its reliance on volatile trading and investment banking.
BUSINESS
Apr 22, 2025
Nomura’s biggest deal since Lehman forms $770 billion fund giant
Tokyo-based Nomura has been expanding in asset management in a bid to generate more stable income and reduce its reliance on volatile trading and investment banking.
A Bank of Kyoto branch in the city of Kyoto. Kyoto Financial Group has been a symbol of Japan’s old guard holding out against selling the stakes, given its historic ties to exporters based in the city including Nintendo, Nidec and Kyocera.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 16, 2025
Kyoto bank shifts stance on mergers and cuts to cross-shareholdings
Kyoto Financial has been a symbol of Japan’s old guard holding out against selling the stakes, given its historic ties to exporters based in the city.
Taro Kitabayashi, chief executive officer of Norinchukin Bank, during an interview in Tokyo, on April 9. Kitabayashi said the bank finished selling off its unprofitable U.S. Treasury holdings by the end of March, thus avoiding the volatility last week as Trump’s trade policies whipsawed markets.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 15, 2025
Norinchukin dodges Trump’s market chaos after selling Treasuries
New Chief Executive Taro Kitabayashi said the bank finished selling off its unprofitable U.S. Treasury holdings by the end of March.
Foreign residents who fail to renew their residential statuses before their expiry may find that they won’t be able to withdraw cash from their bank accounts.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 9, 2025
Banks freeze withdrawals for foreign nationals upon expiration of visas
The move is part of a government initiative to combat scams and fraud, the Financial Services Agency says.
Social engineering scams thrive on poorly monitored social media platforms, and while the UK is pushing tougher laws to hold tech companies accountable, the U.S. resists stricter rules, believing individuals should bear responsibility for avoiding fraud.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 9, 2025
The U.K. is trying to fight social scams. The U.S. not so much.
Social engineering is one of the hardest parts of the trillion-dollar online scam industry to block or disrupt.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking plans to start structuring products such as asset-backed securities, hoping to capitalize on the growing market and strong prospects for infrastructure investments in Brazil.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 8, 2025
Japan’s SMBC to expand in Brazil’s local bond capital markets
The Japanese bank plans to start structuring products such as asset-backed securities, hoping to capitalize on the growing market for infrastructure investments in Brazil.
Wall Street banks, under political pressure and tempted by short-term gains, are abandoning climate commitments and pouring billions into fossil fuels, risking both environmental catastrophe and massive future economic losses.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 2025
Wall Street will regret helping the world burn
For an industry in the business of money, it sure has a funny way of ensuring its destruction. 
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking is in talks to provide corporate client data to Fujitsu to run through the IT company’s multimodal machine learning tools to make business forecasts.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 3, 2025
SMBC and Fujitsu to partner on AI-driven forecasting services
The move would be a rare instance of a Japanese bank allowing another company access to sensitive customer data.

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