Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. will go ahead with a plan to pay public money it received to shore up its capital base back to the government in three years, according to its top leaders.
SMFG President Teisuke Kitayama and Chairman Masayuki Oku also said in an interview the banking group has no immediate plans to push for a merger with Daiwa Securities Group Inc.
On returning the public money, Kitayama, also chairman of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., said it is the banking group's "basic policy" to complete the repayment "in three years ending in fiscal 2007" to March 31, 2008.