Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. said Monday it plans to increase hiring by 44 percent in 2009, aiming to boost sales of investment funds and reduce dependency on part-time staff.

"We want to secure talented people to increase our competitiveness," said Tetsu Morishima, a spokesman for the Tokyo-based bank, confirming an earlier Nikkei report that the group's main banking unit will add 2,400 full-time employees.

SMFG, whose profit fell 59 percent in the latest quarter, aims to increase revenue from individuals by ¥100 billion within three years by selling more funds and other financial products, Osamu Endo, deputy president of the banking unit, said in November.

Major banks cut staff in the 1990s and earlier this decade as they consolidated after the postbubble economic doldrums soured lending and forced a government bailout.

"In the short term, this is a negative as their operating costs will go up," said Kristine Li, a Tokyo-based analyst at KBC Securities Japan. "In tough times, banks increased part-timers to cut costs and now they're doing the reverse. I think they're behind the curve now."

The laws were changed to allow banks to sell a full range of insurance products, including those of overseas firms, for the first time starting Dec. 22. SMFG said last month that it hired 250 employees with insurance experience to help sell 16 new products.

The 2009 hiring plan may also reflect a need for additional staff following legislation last year that tightened disclosure requirements on bank sales of investment products, KBC's Li said.

The Financial Instruments and Exchange Law, which took effect Sept. 30, requires banks to provide clearer disclosure of risks when selling funds to individuals. The law is dampening such sales as investors grow concerned about the turmoil in credit markets related to defaults on U.S. subprime mortgages, Li said.