Tag - banks

 
Menu
Search
 
July 12, 2026
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

BANKS

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.
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.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Sompo looks beyond insurance to focus on well-being
Sompo looks beyond insurance to focus on well-being

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER