Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. will consider whether to sell more stock after regulators have called for tighter capital standards and larger rival Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. raised ¥1 trillion.
"We have to stay competitive," SMFG President Teisuke Kitayama, 63, said in an interview at the bank's Tokyo headquarters. "It's not a case of copying somebody, but we need to fully examine the matter to make sure we're not slow off the block."
An agreement with shareholders not to sell new stock expired Dec. 21, freeing SMFG to add to the ¥861 billion it raised in a share sale six months ago. Smaller competitor Mizuho Financial Group Inc., which has the weakest capital among Japan's major banks, is barred under a similar agreement from selling stock until Jan. 11.