The official debut last week of the Mizuho financial group is a fresh reminder of the large-scale bank mergers and tie-ups now in the works in Japan. The group brings together Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, Fuji Bank and the Industrial Bank of Japan under the umbrella of Mizuho Holdings Inc. Two years from now, the three banks and their affiliated brokerages and trust banks will be consolidated into a retail bank, a wholesale bank, a brokerage (serving also as an investment bank) and a trust bank.

As size goes, Mizuho Holdings, with total assets of about 152 trillion yen, is the world's largest bank group, surpassing such foreign giants as Deutsche Bank and Citigroup. At an inaugural press conference, Mr. Katsuyuki Sugita, DKB president and joint chief executive officer of the holding company, said, "We are in a position to lead the Japanese financial industry, plus we have in our hands the ticket to position ourselves as a formidable player among the world's top five banks."

What is happening here is that major Japanese banks are joining hands to stake out an advantageous position in the increasingly competitive arena of financial services. Already, the Mizuho initiative, announced in August last year, has touched off a spate of consolidation plans, including linkups between Sanwa and Tokai Banks and between Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and Mitsubishi Trust & Banking Corp., as well as a merger between Sakura and Sumitomo Banks.